If you're a big fan, like me, of Ike Quebec, the deep-toned tenor saxophonist from the same vein as Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster but with a sound all his own, you haven't had much choice in CDs: "Blue & Sentimental" and "Heavy Soul" or "Heavy Soul" and "Blue & Sentimental," take your pick. Mr. Quebec went into the business end of recording, for one thing, and didn't lead that many sessions, had drug problems early on when he was playing and died of lung cancer at age 44, not long after the playing side of his career revived.
Which is why the choice was simple when I spied the newly released "Ike Quebec: The Complete Blue Note 45 Sessions" in the bin at Borders over the weekend, especially with a coupon for 25 percent off in my pocket because the two-CD set is a little pricey. But worth it, with 26 tracks ranging from moody ballads like "Blue Friday" and "Imagination" to burners like "Mardi Gras" and "Me 'N' Mabe." All the tracks are Ike with an organist, guitarist, bassist and drummer, Sir Charles Thompson, Skeeter Best, Milt Hinton and Sam Jones among them. I sure wish they made this kind of stuff for jukebox distribution today.
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