Michael Ullman
Thelonious Monk can sound like someone skipping (or even tripping) — and yet the swing is there.
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These pieces integrate the various, varied sounds James Shipp and Nadje Noordhuis produce into something rhythmically as well as melodically exciting and coherent.
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The trio on hEARoes is enthralling; it doesn’t sound like anything I have heard.
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I wonder why this fine session was withheld for 49 years. It might be the bitter-sounding texts, or the very fact of vocals in a jazz session.
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As usual with Craft Recordings reissues, these lps are impeccably produced: the silence of the recording before the music starts is almost startling, but it’s the clear sound of what follows that is most impressive.
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The album seems to me to be about spotlighting the ensemble’s sound rather than the virtuoso displays of its leader.
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This collector is happy to have Luis Russell: At the Swing Cats Ball with all its faults.
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The last time Kenny Barron recorded solo was in 1981. That, besides the quality of the music, is a reason to treasure this album.
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The smallish Friend Recital Hall was an ideal setting for pianist Laszlo Gardony to impose his engaging personality, as well as his musical versatility and power.
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The music comes out of an extended personal crisis; the compositions found here are a testament to a musician regaining his voice.
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Arts Remembrance: In Memoriam — Tom Stoppard