Ray Noble's "The Very Thought of You" showcases Rickey Woodard's ballad artistry on his 1992 live album The Tokyo Express. His single-chorus tenor saxophone solo over the 32-bar ABAB' form at a slow 56 beats per minute in E-flat major is a performance of deep emotional conviction, his big, lush tone and vocal-like phrasing revealing the influence of ballad masters like Ben Webster and Don Byas. The slow tempo allows Woodard to linger over each phrase, shaping his melodic ideas with the kind of rubato sensitivity that separates great ballad players from merely competent ones. Noble's 1934 composition is one of the most romantic songs in the Great American Songbook, and Woodard's instrumental reading preserves the song's tenderness while adding harmonic sophistication and improvisational spontaneity. The rhythm section of James Williams on piano, Christian McBride on bass, and Clarence Johnston on drums provides a warm, supportive framework that enhances the solo's intimate character. The live Tokyo setting adds a dimension of immediacy to the performance, the audience's attentive silence creating an atmosphere of shared musical experience. "The Very Thought of You" demonstrates that Woodard is not merely a hard-swinging tenor man but a complete musician capable of profound emotional expression.
