IT WAS A RAINY NIGHT IN NINETEEN EIGHTY-EIGHT

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[From the STMcC archive; September 4, 2004]

*This review is now dedicated to my buddy Arlee Bird – a cat who knows his Jazz*
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IT WAS A RAINY NIGHT IN NINETEEN EIGHTY-EIGHT . . . and back East, the Los Angeles underDOdGers were performing miracles - publicly humiliating the cocky New York Mets. I was working the night watch in the City Of Angels. Angels my patoot! I was parked on a dark side street watching the rain pelt my windshield and listening to that cat blow his alto. It gave great meaning to the rain. His notes bruised my heart like a set of brass knuckles to the jaw! "That was RICHIE COLE with 'IF EVER I WOULD LEAVE YOU' from his latest release, SIGNATURE," the whiskey-voiced disc jockey told me over the thunder clap.

I immediately turned the engine over and spun a U-turn. Fishtailing on the slick street, I nearly flattened a drenched and darting tomcat. I could see in his eyes that we were both searching for the same thing: redemption. Or just a warm place to spend this cold night. I negotiated the sedan through the neon light-splashed concrete jungle boulevards.

There was an empty parking space right in front of the record shop. They must have expected me. I pulled my fedora down and the collar on my trench coat up as I approached the clerk. "John Doe," I said. He reached under the counter and came up with a battered black briefcase. "I know, Mr. Doe. Now blow!" he said, pushing the briefcase at me. The rain had let up and I sped home.

Making sure that I had not been followed, I climbed the dilapidated staircase to my dark, shabby apartment. I poured a tumbler of amber tonic, and lit a cigarette before removing the compact disc from the briefcase. I pushed 'Track Seven - Repeat' and sat back. With the beginning of the piano intro, lightning flashed and the rain resumed right on cue. The cool cat, Cole, hit that cascading note in the very same moment that the bourbon hit my bloodstream.

There was nothing left to do now but wait. The dame was late. As usual. But I knew she would be here soon enough. We'd see a REAL storm then!

And that's the true story of how I came by Richie Cole's album ‘SIGNATURE’. Give or take a cigarette and a tomcat or two.

In the liner notes of this underrated little gem, our host tells us that "This album was composed and arranged in every airport bar from San Francisco to Juneau to New York to Helsinki to Kajanni to Copenhagen to Los Angeles to Auckland to Brisbane to Darwin to Gove to Perth to Melbourne to Sydney to Papeete and back..."

Right away you know this is going to be good because nothing bad ever came out of an airport bar (except a few hangovers maybe, but those were deserved).

This collection is for those who like their Jazz with pizazz! The highlights for me are SUNDAY IN NEW YORK with its snappy guitar and piano solos by Vic Juris and Tee Carson; the Pacific sea breeze-inflected, steel drum-laced TRADE WINDS (which could just as easily have been titled SUNDAY ON VENICE BEACH); and the nearly equally breezy RAINBOW LADY.

The real head-turner, however, is the emotionally heartwrenching and melodically gorgeous IF EVER I WOULD LEAVE YOU. It remains one of my very favorite instrumentals, and I defy you to find a more sublime soundtrack for a rain-soaked evening. That's what sold me on it! (And yes, I really did buy ‘SIGNATURE’ within 10 minutes of hearing IF EVER I WOULD LEAVE YOU played on my car radio!)

The odd man out is the two and a half minute AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL. I've never figured out why this piece was tacked on as a coda. My suspicion has always been that Mr. Cole's final flight was delayed and he was forced to wait just one scotch and soda too long at the airport bar. Oh well, no harm done. It was nothing that three Excedrin wouldn't cure.

~ Stephen T. McCarthy

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