Harold Mabern: Mr. Lucky

[RSS Feed Guy]

Harold Mabern brings his happy, blues-oriented piano to bear on this upbeat homage to the great entertainer m: Sammy Davis Jr. Of the nine songs on the album, only two--Mabern's buoyant original, "Soft Shoe Trainin' with Sammy," and m: Henry Mancini's title tune--weren't closely associated with Davis. On the other hand, Mr. Lucky seems a rather peculiar name for an album devoted to Davis, as he was undeniably as talented as any entertainer of the past century but, at least in his private life, somewhat far removed from what could be called "lucky." In November 1954, Davis survived a horrendous auto accident but lost his left eye. He spent much of his life battling racism, which wasn't helped by an affair with actress Kim Novak and marriage to the Swedish-born actress May Britt. Surely alcohol, tobacco and drugs contributed heavily to his death from throat cancer at age sixty-four. Davis' body was later exhumed to remove the $70,000 in jewelry buried with him, which was used to help pay off his bankruptcy. Lucky, indeed...

More...