14: Erroll Garner: Concert By The Sea (Columbia)
Famed for his florid, virtuosic keyboard style, Pittsburgh-born Erroll Garner was heavily influenced by Earl Hines and Fats Waller but managed to find his own distinctive voice on the piano. Capturing Garner in an assembly hall in Carmel, California, in 1955, Concert By The Sea began as an unofficial recording made by a local broadcaster for US armed forces radio. Garner’s manager heard the tapes and persuaded Columbia to release them as an album, whereupon it sold by the truckload (by 1958, it was estimated to have made over $1 million in sales). Garner is accompanied by bassist Eddie Calhoun and drummer Denzil Best, and offers typically flamboyant renderings of standards such as ‘I’ll Remember April’, ‘Teach Me Tonight’ and ‘Autumn Leaves’. A vivid live portrait of a piano playing genius.
Barron’s flowing lyricism and unique melodic sense on full display!
Venus Record’s producer Tetsuo Hara met pianist Kenny Barron for the first time in 1992, and ever since then wanted to record his trio album. He did so in 2004 by releasing the Super Standard CD, but Barron’s contract with another label prevented them from using his name, so they called the trio the “Super Trio.”
With the expiration of that contract, Barron returned to Venus to record this superb trio album, this time properly released under his own name. Barron is a hugely talented pianist — one of the best jazz pianists alive today — and his bop-based style with flowing lyricism and unique melodic sense in in full display here. And unlike his other recent albums, this album mostly features his beautiful interpretations of standards and ballads.
Barron, George Mraz and Ben Riley sound perfectly relaxed and inspired at the same time. One can tell from this album that they enjoyed playing together very much. This is clearly one of Kenny Barron’s best albums to date. The typically big, powerful sound of this Venus release adds to the value of this excellent album.
“This is yet another fine example of Kenny Barron’s superb chops in a small-group setting.” — AllMusic.com
Musicians:
Kenny Barron, piano
George Mraz, bass
Ben Riley, drums
Beginning in 2012, pianist Kenny Barron and bassist Dave Holland formed a duo partnership that found them performing live all around the world. The duo’s 2014 studio album, The Art of Conversation, showcases this collaboration with a simple, beautifully understated mix of standards and original compositions. Journeyman solo artists and bandleaders in their own right, both Barron and Holland are virtuoso musicians who’ve made their mark playing disparate, if compatible, styles of jazz. On one hand, Barron, with his impeccable technique and lyrical taste, is an influential master of straight-ahead post-bop jazz. On the other hand, Holland, also blessed with imposing technique, has moved with deft ease between avant-garde jazz, athletic post-bop, and straight-ahead sessions. What they share is a thoughtful, measured precision and attention to detail, as well as empathetic musical ears that allow for deep musical interplay. All of which is on display here. There’s a palpable sense on The Art of Conversation that both Barron and Holland have a deep respect for songs and the composer’s original intent. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t take such songs as Thelonious Monk’s “In Walked Bud” and Billy Strayhorn’s “Daydream” and make them their own. This balance between respecting the composer and allowing for individual interpretation is especially highlighted on a handful of their own original compositions, including Barron’s languid and elegiac “Rain,” on which Holland takes the melody, and Holland’s similarly dreamlike ballad “In Your Arms,” on which Barron takes the helm. Ultimately, it’s this kind of sympathetic collaboration, mutual respect, and creative synergy that makes The Art of Conversation such a joy to listen to.
I know it’s a great album but for others a little, easily obtainable, information never goes amiss.
Gene diNovi… who??
Another one of my strange cd purchases. Bought really for dear,old Spike Robinson a saxophone player in the style and tradition that I am attached to. But the revelation is diNovi . I had never heard of or listened to this musician. His style not perhaps many miles from the recently regarded Jan Lundgren.
This particular cd is not reviewed on Allmusic but if Jazzman could bring up his biography then it does show how firmly his feet have been under the jazz table.
Major influences: Teddy Wilson, Mel Powell, Ellis Larkins, and Duke Ellington. As a precocious 15-year-old, Gene DiNovi worked in 1943 with bandleader Henry Jerome, who was at that time preparing to convert his Hal Kemp-styled dance band into a modern bop ensemble. DiNovi’s transition from swing to bop manifested itself in recordings with Chicago-style clarinetist Joe Marsala and progressive clarinet/tenor man Aaron Sachs. In December of 1947, while working at the Three Deuces with guitarist Chuck Wayne, DiNovi was suddenly asked to back Lester Young on what was to be Prez’s very last session for the Aladdin record label. Wayne was also invited, as were bassist Curly Russell and drummer Norman “Tiny” Kahn. The four titles recorded with Lester Young on December 29, 1947 give us what are perhaps the best examples of DiNovi’s sound during these formative years. On September 9, 1948 DiNovi sat in with Benny Goodman & His Septet alongside Fats Navarro and Wardell Gray. What resulted was a lively version of Fats Waller’s “Stealin’ Apples.” DiNovi stayed busy, gigging with tenor saxophonist Brew Moore and with clarinetists Buddy DeFranco and Artie Shaw. He also wrote the orchestral arrangement for bassist Chubby Jackson’s “So Wrong.” Beginning in 1950, DiNovi evolved into an accomplished accompanist for popular vocalists. If his presence behind Una Mae Carlisle with the Bob Chester band is historically interesting, the work he did with Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Thelma Carpenter, Lena Horne, Dinah Shore, and Carmen McRae shows him adapting to the times. Without compromising anybody’s integrity, DiNovi solidified his ties to show business while continuing to play a vital supporting role in the evolution of jazz. Upon request, he wrote an arrangement for Lena Horne’s version of Harold Arlen’s “Out of This World” and it was Horne who introduced DiNovi to Billy Strayhorn, who eventually hooked him up with Duke Ellington. Since DiNovi became a predominately solo act during the '70s, he has distinguished himself as a gifted interpreter of the Ellington/Strayhorn songbook. During the late '90s DiNovi established an annual seven-day birthday tribute to Ellington in Toronto. Exceptionally adept and sensitive enough to handle music of great subtlety and depth, he deserves more honor and recognition than the world has given him over the years.
Dave
PS Unfortunately neither the Spike Robinson or Plays Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn Live albums are on Qobuz but try this…
Pianist Gene DiNovi, who was just old enough to be part of the bebop era, mostly worked with singers after the mid-1950s until 30 years later when he began re-emerging on an occasional basis in jazz again. This 1993 recording finds DiNovi (at 63) still in prime form and playing a similar boppish style as he had in the early 1950s. Teamed with bassist Dave Young and drummer Terry Clarke, DiNovi (who dedicated the album to the late drummer-composer Tiny Kahn) performs several swinging originals, two of Kahn’s songs (“T.N.T.” and “Tiny’s Blues”) and several standard ballads. It is a joy to hear a bebop veteran still in such top form many decades later. DiNovi’s time off of the jazz scene led to him being quite enthusiastic when he returned, leading to this easily recommended CD.
Sorry Nick but from what I’ve read Miles has been very heavily outnumbered on that one. Not that I’m saying the album is a particular favourite of mine. For a '60s recording the version on Qobuz sounds a bit woolly.
That place was a very nice club - specialised in jazz piano so you could get to see some real legends there. I saw the whole gamut from Jay McShann to John Lewis. ‘Montréal Bistro’ was it’s later name - previously ‘Cafe des Copains’. Never saw diNovi though.
A bootleg copy I’m afraid but still sounds better on my system than the Tidal Stream.
Turiya & Ramakrishna is in my top 10 records of all time Alice’s piano is a thing of such beauty and Ron Carter’s Bass isn’t too shabby either.
