A West Coast jazz date that blows with hard bop gusto, Tenorman by The Lawrence Marable Quartet featuring James Clay was a hard-swinging session led by the esteemed drummer (Marable) that served as an introduction of the young Texan tenor (Clay) with sturdy support from pianist Sonny Clark and bassist Jimmy Bond. Recorded in August 1956 at Capitol Studios in Hollywood for the Jazz: West label, a boutique imprint allied with Pacific Jazz, the album presents assured versions of well-worn standards (“The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea,” “Easy Living,” “Willow Weep For Me,” “Lover Man”) with a trio of original compositions by Clark interspersed (“Minor Meeting,” “Three Fingers North,” “Marbles”).
