‘A’ Midnight Special – Michel Petrucciani

by | Feb 4, 2024 | Sextet, Solo/Duo

(Above) The classic Take the ‘A’ Train is given a highly kinetic treatment by Petrucciani at the 1998 Nice Jazz Festival. He is joined by Anthony Jackson (b), Steve Gadd (d), Stefano DiBattista (ts), Flavio Boltro (tr), & Denis Leloup (tb)

(Left) In 1993, Michel took the stage at the Stuttgart Jazz Festival and captured the audience with a powerful solo performance of Monk’s ‘Round Midnight.  He had everyone checking their watches … waiting for ‘last call!’

Slow Freight – Junior Mance & Ray Bryant

by | Mar 19, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet

Very few things are as addictive as salted peanuts … betcha’ can’t eat just one!  That’s why they employed two pianos and twenty golden fingers to perform the super bluesy Ray Bryant composition, Slow Freight.  The tune was recorded in 1993 for a Japanese TV special and features both Junior Mance and Ray Bryant on pianos, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Alan Dawson playing drums.

Monk’s Dream – Mulgrew Miller

by | Apr 17, 2020 | Trio

Recorded at the Tuscia in Jazz Festival, Ronciglione, Italy in 2006, Mulgrew Miller pays an exceptional tribute to Thelonious Monk by not wasting a single note in this memorable performance of Monk’s original tune.  Mulgrew is joined here by Buster Williams playing bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums.

Bill Evans – Debby And The Prince

by | Mar 28, 2020 | Trio

When you say the word “piano” you might as well say “Bill Evans” because they are one in the same. The only criticism I’ve heard of Bill is that he didn’t have “chops” … obviously uttered by someone who hadn’t heard Someday My Prince Will Come.

Forming the trio on Waltz For Debby, as well as on ‘Prince’ is Bill Evans playing piano, Larry Bunker on drums and Chuck Israels on bass.   Waltz for Debby is one of those tunes almost as closely associated with Evans as the word “piano’!

The Fabulous Baker Boys

by | Dec 6, 2019 | Solo/Duo, Vocal

The Fabulous Baker Boys is a movie about two guys and a girl, that play against one incredible jazz-based soundtrack!  Toss in some sibling rivalry and you have a motion picture that feels good no matter how many times you see it.

Michelle Pfeiffer does all of her own singing … and is quite a nice surprise, considering we previously only knew her as a most enjoyable actress.   Jeff and Beau Bridges play some of their own piano, although Dave Grusin does most of the keyboard work with the Bridges brothers very convincingly miming it.

Music flows from one end of the story to the other and the plot is a sound one, especially if you happen to have grown up with an obverse brother or sister … or just had a really close best friend.  Here’s a small sample.

Body and Soul – Billy Taylor

by | Nov 9, 2019 | Trio

On March 2nd 2000, The Billy Taylor Trio played this soulful but swinging arrangement of “Body and Soul” live at the Manchester Craftsman’s Guild in Pittsurgh, Pennsylvania.  Featured on piano was the great Dr. Billy Taylor, Chip Jackson was on bass and the amazing Winard Harper played drums. Dr. Taylor became the most prominent spokesman for the virtues of jazz and was the first to describe it as “America’s Classical Music”.

Mary Lou Williams – Pianist’s Pianist

by | Aug 16, 2019 | Solo/Duo, Trio

Mary Lou Williams was one of the few female jazz pianists to achieve fame during the middle of the 20th Century.  She was also a much sought after composer, arranger and mentor. Mary Lou wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions). Williams wrote and arranged for such bandleaders as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. Three of her compositions were scored for a Carnegie Hall concert played by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1946!

The top video, Willow Weep For Me, is a popular 1932 standard from The Mary Lou Williams Collection 1927-59 and features her trio. The bottom two offerings, The Man I Love (1978) on the left and Mary Lou Plays Some Blues (1980) on the right are live solo performances recorded toward the end of her fabulous career..

Late Lament / Rider – Keith Jarret

by | Aug 9, 2019 | Trio

Late Lament has become something of a standard that was first popularized by Paul Desmond.  The Jarret rendition isn’t quite as mellow as Desmond’s and features the gold standard of trios, with each member in clear communication with the other.  Keith Jarret is probably the most ‘athletic’ piano player ever to caress a keyboard. He gets a real workout with Rider, which also features Gary Peacock on bass and Jack Dejohnette on drums.  Sometimes I wonder how Keith can make so many moves and still maintain contact with the piano!

My Man / Fine and Mellow – Billie Holiday

by | Jul 26, 2019 | Vocal

My Man is another intoxicating performance by Billie Holiday, assisted by Jimmy Rowles at the piano. Her message is delivered with all of the raw honesty that made her so beloved.  As nearly as I can determine, this rendition was recorded in the late 50s or early 60s.

Fine and Mellow was recorded in 1957 together with Billie’s All Star Big Band.  While a big band doesn’t generally lend itself to a feeling of intimacy, there is no denying Holiday’s ability to rise above the power of all those instruments and pull you up close.

Blues In B-Flat – Barry Harris

by | Jul 20, 2019 | Trio

Blues in B-Flat was recorded by The Barry Harris Trio live at Dizzy’s in New York, during June of 2017.  At the age of 90 he is still going strong both performing and teaching.  When he is not on the road, Harris holds weekly music workshop sessions in New York City for vocalists, students of piano and other instruments.  Alongside Barry in the trio are bassist Ray Drummond, and drummer Leroy Williams.