Booker Ervin

Lament for Booker Ervin

At an overbooked all-star saxophone concert held in 1965 Berlin, the musicians were supposed to only play for 15 minutes. Tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin protested against the restrictive situation by performing the intense and stirring 'Blues for You' for 27½-minutes, tearing down the house. A decade later (after Ervin's 1970 death) the performance (with pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Neils Pedersen and drummer Alan Dawson) was released for the first time and its passion was worth waiting for. Also on this historic album is pianist Horace Parlan's somber solo tribute to Ervin ('Lament for Booker') which was recorded in 1975.