Conversations

Because he spent so much of his career living in Europe, Sahib Shihab is primarily known for being a baritonist in the bop era. As this very interesting CD shows, he was also quite original on the alto, soprano and flute and by the early 1960's was open to the influence of the avant-garde without losing his own musical personality. Shihab, who is teamed on this live Copenhagen session with flugelhornist Allan Botchinsky, guitarist Ole Molin, drummer Alex Riel and the 17-year old bassist Niels Henning Orsted Pederson, performs "Someday My Prince Will Come," "Charade" and a lengthy version of "Billy Boy" along with five originals including the three-part "Conversations." This surprising music is well worth several listens and shows that Shihab was a much more diverse player than is usually thought.