Blues Mission was the first bonafide solo release by the late saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, one of the funkiest homo sapiens anywhere.
Happily included are updated versions of seminal pieces he’d earlier done with James Brown – the immortal, groundbreaking “Cold Sweat,” a sort of emancipation for jazz in the form of a soul-funk voting card. This song is perhaps the apex of Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis’ late-1960s stint in Brown’s group, a period that included Ellis-arranged hits like “In the Middle,” “Popcorn” and “Soul Pride.”
But that wasn’t the end of the line for our man Pee Wee. Ten years after leaving James Brown, Ellis came on as bandleader and arranger for Van Morrison, a pairing that lasted until 1986. Ellis went on to regroup with Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley from the old Brown band, while appearing on numerous sideman projects.
Arriving so many miles later in May 1992, Blues Mission reminded us of one inalienable fact: We needed guys like Pee Wee Ellis moving and grooving.
From the smooth soul of “Yellin’ Blue” all the way until the monster title track, Ellis remained hip and healthily cool. Most pleasingly, sounds from early stints with jazzers like Ron Carter, Chuck Mangione and Sonny Rollins also emerged.
Stir in liberally with the swimming funk of Brown and the high emotion of Morrison, and you had a mission of your own: Go get this thing. The band was wah-wah wow – including drummer Clyde Stubblefield, who sat in with Pee Wee Ellis on Brown’s “Mother Popcorn.” Will it make you sweat? Yeah.
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