Al Haig Trio (Esoteric)

Al Haig Trio
Studio album by Al Haig
Released	August 25, 1954
Recorded	March 13, 1954
Genre	Bebop
Label	Esoteric Rerelease: Fresh Sound

Professional ratings
Review scores
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Allmusic	[1]

Al Haig Trio is a 1954 jazz album released by Al Haig on the Esoteric records label; in later rereleases it is therefore often known as Esoteric or The Al Haig Trio Esoteric.

The album is notable as being one of three that Haig released as leader in 1954, the final year of his first period of success. There followed some twenty years of obscurity, broken in the later 1970s, when he was finally recognised as an important pioneer of bebop, and began to be recorded again.

This album contains thirteen sides, the only surprising choice being "Royal Garden Blues", a Dixieland number. The repertoire may be unadventurous, but the playing is top class. Though this (and Haig's other 1954 albums) was little noticed at the time, it has since been judged to be a highlight in the career of one of the key figures in the development of bop, being awarded a rare crown in Cook and Morton's The Penguin Guide to Jazz.^[2]

Personnel

• Al Haig – piano
• Bill Crow – double bass
• Lee Abrams – drums

Track listing

1. "Autumn in New York" (5:17)
2. "Isn't It Romantic?" (3:38)
3. "They Can't Take That Away from Me" (2:52)
4. "Royal Garden Blues" (2:44)
5. "Don't Blame Me" (2:46)
6. "Moonlight in Vermont" (3:43)
7. "If I Should Lose You" (3:34)
8. "April in Paris" (2:15)
9. "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" (2:20)
10. "Body and Soul" (4:55)
11. "Gone with the Wind" (2:59)
12. "My Old Flame" (2:58)
13. "On the Alamo" (3:34)

References

1. Al Haig Trio (Esoteric) at AllMusic
2. Richard Cook & Brian Morton. The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD sixth edition. London: Penguin Books, 2002. ISBN 0-14-051521-6