Sal Nistico, Benny Bailey, Joe Haider, Isla Eckinger, Billie Brooks
East of Isar
EGO Records (Germany) 1978
4010 (LP)
sleeve : EX(wear on corner)
media : EX/EX(some slightly noise)
Released in 1978, this album features Joe Haider alongside tenor saxophonist Sal Nistico, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Benny Bailey, bassist Isla Eckinger, and drummer Billy Brooks, all of whom released albums as leaders on Haider’s own EGO Records label. The album opens with A1, a cover of the title track from Horace Parlan’s 1974 SteepleChase album, followed by the jazz standard A2 and an original composition by Haider on A3. Side B contains a piece composed by Vince Benedetti and an original by Nistico, making five tracks in total. It is straight-ahead hard bop, but the performances are so exceptionally good that they immediately command your full attention.
A2: Body and Soul
B2: East of Isar