1. A Beautiful Friendship
2. Texas Moon
3. Bossa Joe
4. Stranded
5. Shadow Of The Sunset
6. Sabia
7. Blues For Yahoo
8. Blue Gardenia

Charles Davis - Tenor and Baritone Saxophone
Cedar Walton - Piano
Peter Washington – Bass
Joe Farnsworth - Drums

Baritone saxophonist Charles Davis started out with Sun Ra in the early 1950s. Along the way, he’s paid his dues in the big bands of Clark Terry, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Illinois Jacquet and Lionel Hampton. He first played “Blue Gardenia” with Dinah Washington in the late ‘50s. As a leader, he’s only issued a few recordings: Dedicated To Tadd (West 54, 1979), Super 80 (Nilva, 1982), and Reflections (Red, 1990).

Now 70, Davis continues to exercise his instrumental voice as soloist; this time out he employs a 50-50 balance between baritone and tenor. The leader’s solo saxophone voice stands sweet and melodic, but the session turns uneven in places due to a few slips of pitch control on baritone. Cedar Walton, Peter Washington and Joe Farnsworth do more than their share to make up for it with a hands-down rock-solid foundation for each piece.

On tenor, Davis sends a lovely melodic message that calls upon his vast experience for flavor. “Texas Moon” recalls time he’s spent on the road with Hank Crawford, while “Blues for Yahoo” moves more in the hard bop direction of New York City. Yahoo is the producer’s dog, who must have inherited Charlie Parker’s up-tempo grit. Either that, or he simply reminded Davis of Bird’s unique soul. Blue Gardenia, a solid straight-ahead album, swings with tradition and a true, blues-based spirit. ---Jim Santella, allaboutjazz.com

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1 	The Gems Of Mims	10:45
2 	Little Miss Jump Up	7:15
3 	Linda	11:30
4 	Ingia	9:15

Alto Saxophone, Flute – Gerald Hayes
Baritone Saxophone, Producer, Arranged By – Charles Davis
Bass – David Williams
Drums – Louis Hayes
Guitar – Louis Davis 
Piano, Electric Piano – Ronnie Mathews
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Andrew "Tex" Allen

Although he has performed previously on tenor and alto, Charles Davis is best-known for his fine baritone playing, both as a soloist and for his dependable work in sax sections. Early on, he gigged with Sun Ra (off and on from 1954 into the 1980s), Brother Jack McDuff, Ben Webster, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington (1957-1958). Davis gained some attention when he was with Kenny Dorham's band (1959-1962). He also played with Illinois Jacquet, Lionel Hampton, the Jazz Composers' Orchestra (1966-1976), Louis Hayes' Sextet (1972-1974), Clark Terry's big band, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. In the 1980s, he was with Dameronia (1981-1984), Philly Joe Jones, Barry Harris, and Abdullah Ibrahim. Charles Davis has led sessions for Strata-East, West 54, Nilva, Red, and L&R. ---Scott Yanow, Rovi

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