Jim Hall: Things Ain't What They Used To Be

It's a matter of historical record. Jim Hall was born in Buffalo. What we can't figure out is which section of Buffalo produced such a bluesy jazz guitarist. Is there a Delta buried beneath all that Lake-effect snow? On this track from his debut as a leader, Hall is joined by another New York native, bassist Red Mitchell, and Indianapolis's Carl Perkins on piano (no, not the rockabilly originator of "Blue Suede Shoes") for a composition by Mercer Ellington, who like his somewhat better known papa was born in Washington, DC. Amazingly, this city-slicker confederacy of Yankees yields such easygoing, laid-back blues as would make even dyed-in-the-cotton Mississippians tap a toe or two in approval. Mitchell's solo is an especial broken- slatted front-porch down-home delight.

THIS JUST IN:  We can now report that as a child Jim Hall moved with his family to Cleveland. Now that explains everything.