Cary Kilner
|
Cary Kilner's Picks: Volume 52
Tierney Sutton – Autumn Leaves This is a very interesting treatment of an old standard and jazz warhorse. Drums with brushes are heard for the first half minute, then the head is sung over a vamp. When they get to the piano solo, more traditional harmonies ensue. It’s in the fast tempo but so clean! https://youtu.be/K4U_LNe2vqg Lynne ArrialeTrio – Estate The first link below features another beautiful pianist and trio playing a classic Brazilian basso-nova that begins as a ballad. The second link demonstrates Lynne’s unique trio approach in a live video concert. At 14:30 they play Chick Corea’s well-known waltz, Windows, but go into a fast groove for her solos. Fast forward to 35:50 for their treatment of the very engaging Beatles’ tune, Blackbird, which is also played by Brad Mehldau, in case I haven’t mentioned it before. https://youtu.be/Ds4-n5uZRi0 https://youtu.be/lI31tMBxpp4 Justin Kaufman Trio – Country Fried I’m sure you’ll enjoy this whimsical bluesy, grooving, piano trio sound (a shuffle), especially the fine contrapuntal bass work. Note that in this ensemble the electric bass sounds just fine with acoustic piano. Given a very clean sound, it provides clarity often only found with premier bass players like Ray Brown and Christian McBride. https://youtu.be/sKTw2whj2bE John Hicks Trio – Sweet and Lovely Here is an interesting treatment of this standard tune by another pianist. It’s a somewhat bluesy tune with that nice medium swing groove I favor. https://youtu.be/7u_aGZ8qyrI Chet Baker – Pent Up House You may recall this man’s soft, sweet sound whose earlier days with his piano-less group with Gerry Mulligan propagated the so-called West Coast Cool sound. This is more of the mainstream bebop idiom. I believe the tune is a permutation of a standard by Sonny Rollings in which a new melody is added to the original form and chord changes. This was common practice in the bebop days to avoid paying royalties on the original. https://youtu.be/KEYhjNk5Eyg Blue Mitchell – I’ll Close My Eyes Here is one of my favorite trumpet players who doesn’t use a lot of pyrotechnics. He has that ebullient spirit in his playing, manifested by Freddie Hubbard and Booker Little, among others. The photo on the album cover clearly shows his insouciance. This is absolutely gorgeous group work. Listen to how closely these masters, Wynton Kelly, Louis Hayes, and Sam Jones work together. Wynton weaves his usual melodic and swinging improvisations that match that of Blue. No bass or drum solo is needed here— they just keep it real. You might want to find the whole album on YouTube because it is truly a treasure. To my ears I hear Wynton and Cedar Walton having a lot in common. https://youtu.be/NlVPDaYu5EQ Adam Schuler Sextet – Fantasy in Db Here is a remarkable group that I recently found. Very modern but with the classic Blue-Note sound, especially the tune itself. I really like the trumpet player but don’t know his name. I’m sure you will like him as well. Adam sounds very much like he was influenced by Cedar Walton. https://youtu.be/iSZTEtvL3EU Claudio Roditi – Alberto and Daisy This is an exceptional performance with piano and guitar, and it demonstrates Claudio on his metier, the Brazilian samba. Although his very clean mainstream swing-style is certainly sweet, he really shines on the Brazilian tunes on which he grew and developed. As an aside, we played together in a show band in Kenmore Square back in the day. https://youtu.be/e5htBDUMdSU Harry Allen – I Love You Samantha In this older school of tenor playing, these guys are playing beautifully! This performance is the epitome of relaxation—and with a wonderful pianist as well. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=m6jjnA1MsJE&feature=share Samara Joy – Linger Awhile and Guess Who I Saw Today Samara won the jazz Grammy this year, and some of you may have been luck to attend her performance at Jimmy’s. This great tune continues the relaxation mode of the previous link above, and it’s nice to see inside the studio as it is recorded. I’m sure you will also enjoy the second tune, done as a music video. This was a tune I used to play nightly with my trio in Boston with a marvelous singer, Diane Ellis, whom I hope to one day perform with again. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=tb1reqE4BzY&feature=share https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=X03lvK7qoco&feature=share Brad Mehldau – Two interviews and I Am the Walrus from his Beatles album The first is an extensive interview regarding his early life and how he evolved as a jazz pianist from his classical roots. The second is a short interview discussing why he chose to work on the Beatles songbook. The solo piano Beatles piece is particularly interesting to me due to the close-ups of his hands and fingering. And you can hear how he deconstructed the original and then developed it along the lines he discusses in the interview. https://www.npr.org/2023/02/06/1154819025/jazz-pianist-brad-mehldau-plays-the-beatles https://youtu.be/lGvl6IdBJiA https://youtu.be/YPuZ671t5t4 |
