John Lewis Sacha Distel Willow Weep For Me 1956

It was in Paris that John Lewis coled this 1956 date with Sacha Distel, a French guitarist who never became wellknown in the U. S. but commanded a lot of respect in French jazz circles. The same can be said about the other French players employed on Afternoon in Paris neither tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen nor bassist Pierre Michelot were huge names in the U. S., although both were wellknown in European jazz circles. With Lewis on piano, Distel on guitar, Wilen on tenor, Michelot or Percy Heath on bass, and Kenny Clarke or Connie Kay on drums, the partAmerican, partFrench group of improvisers provides an aboveaverage bop album that ranges from Willow Weep for Me, All The Things You Are, and I Cover the Waterfront to Milt Jackson s Bags Groove and Lewis title song. The bigtoned Wilen was only 19 when Afternoon in Paris was recorded, but as his lyrical yet hardswinging solos demonstrate, he matured quickly as a saxman. It should be noted tha