Ralph Sutton and Ruby Braff In Concert Ralph Sutton; Ruby Braff; Rob Jeffery; Laurie Nil Nul Jazz Recordings Nil Nul 43/016 On October 16, 1981, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation had the good fortune to be in attendance at Thebarton Town Hall, Adelaide. The occasion was a concert given by two great jazz artists straight out of the traditions of the music - pianist Ralph Sutton and the inimitable cornetist, Ruby Braff. The intimate interplay between the two is astounding, although no surprise if you are at all familiar with their talents. The programme is all familiar stuff and particularly tailored to Ralph Sutton's repertoire - but given a new twist with the presence of Ruby Braff. They are quite clearly having a great time together. Mr. Braff acts as the on-mike host, displaying touches of his well-known dry humour which, at times, seems to be lost on the audience! The CD is a treat-sort of like eavesdropping on two old friends having a musical conversation. Braff's command of the horn is phenomenal-listen to his low register playing on Sugar- and his creative ideas are representative of his best playing. Ralph, a bit more predictable in his approach, is nevertheless on top form, both in his solo work and in the empathy he displays when being the accompanist to Braff s flights of fancy , and MIKROKOSMOS through it all he swings mightily. Or Nothing At All, Love for Sale, Two voices, both sadly departed, Secret Love, But Not For Me, and the like of which we will never hear the title tune. again. This CD is a lovely way to While I find I can tire of the Hamremember both of them. mond organ after a while, the leader Jim Galloway finds a variety of sounds on the man- , uals and stops on the Hammond Editor's Note: This Australian CD NEW B-3, (some sort of an update ~s available from Sackville Record- I'd guess). Contributions by veteran mgs, Box 1002, Station 0 ; Toronto tenor-man Red Holloway and gui- M4A 2N4; (416) 593-7230 tarist Pat Martino are notable. Joey DeFrancesco featuring Joe Doggs Falling In Love Again Concord CCD-2160-2 Here's a rarity for these days: a jazz album of standards! When most productions are loaded with "originals" by the leader (or producer), organist Joey DeFrancesco's "Falling In Love Again" offers eleven rich songs by such masters as Gershwin, Mercer, Porter, Kern and Rodgers (to say nothing of Hart) . The featured vocalist Joe Doggs (surely a nickname) is a longtime friend of the leader, and if you like the idiosyncratic Jinuny Scott, you' II like Doggs. He sounds so much like the veteran I had to take a look at the booklet to be sure I had the right disc in the machine. Doggs' voice quality, his reading of the lyric and his sometimes-warbly vibrato are right out of Scott's bag. Since you know the tunes, your ears concentrate on the interpretation more than the material, and they hold up, as you'd expect of songs like All 3 14 Churchill Ave Toronto, Ontario MZR 1 E7 Canada Tel: (t) 416-ll4-1956 fi\X: (t) 416-ll4-2964 www.mikrokosmos.com We buy your classical LP collection (classical, such as Beethoven, Mozart, Stockhausen) we travel anywhere for good collection This is the easy-listening-with-anedge sort of disc you 'll pop in the car's player for the long trips, as I discovered this summer. Ted O'Reilly One for My Baby Robyn Pauhl Independent No stranger to the stage from the tender age of ten, this young woman sings with great confidence, even when it comes to repertoire that explores the kind of heartbreak better understood by those with a little more life experience. Yet she instinctively knows how to intuit the emotions inherent in the music and deliver it with great heart. Granted, she did cut her teeth on country "hurtin' songs", traveling to Nashville at the age of fourteen to record with Odie Blackmon. Nineteen at the time of this recording, Robyn Pauhl is in the midst of her jazz vocal studies at Humber College, but easily at the top of her class, both for her vocal abilities and business acumen. On this CD are jazz standards such as Caravan, Lady be Good, and Over the Rainbow side by side with some gutsy, rockin' blues like Someone Else is Steppin 'In which she handles with bold power and a sweetly raw exuberance. She has chosen her musicians well: Adrean Farrugia on piano, Mark Mcintyre, bass, Mark Inneo, drums, Mike Malone, trumpet, Darren LaChance, guitar and Dee Kaye featured in a vocal duet. This is a CD worth buying, and a singer worth watching in the future . Dianne Wells Dianne Schuur Midnight Concord CCD-2162-2 Diane Schuur is a vocalist whose instrument has never been in question, but her use of it has made me cringe on some occasions. And, I've never had much use for the pop songs and stylings of Barry Manilow. I know it sounds patronizing, but I surprise myself that I've found the pairing of their talents on "Midnight" to be pretty darn good. Ms. Schuur holds back her tendency to indulgently doodle around, and over-express herself, while Manilow provides (with other writing partners) some easy-to-take ifunchallenging love songs. (I'm still scratching my head about Consider The Point From Both Ends though: how can a point have two ends?) Manilow joins Schuur for a duet on Anytime wherein they express their affection for each other, in a Hollywood-sincere style. A "girlfriends" duet on Stay Away From Bill features Karrin Allyson, and I'll Be There adds Brian McKnight in a song aimed at airplay. It's all well produced, using top LA musicians such as Alan Broadbent on piano, Chuck Berghofer on bass and drummer Peter Erskine. Hom soloists include trumpeter Warren Leuning, Dan Higgins on alto sax, and guitarist Eddie Arkin, who shares composition/production/arranging chores. Four of the tracks have string orchestras added, with Jorge Calandrelli in charge of two of them. In sum, a pretty good release, but one remembers when the Beverly Hills label was based in Concord, California, and offered singers like Carmen McRae, Ernestine Anderson, Ernie Andrews, Carol Sloane, Mel Torme and even the quirky Dave Frishberg. Ted O'Reilly CONTINUED ON PAGE 60 58 www.thewholenote.com September 1 - October 7 2003
BLUE NOTE® TERENCE BLANCHARD "' N ltl "' 0 "' "' N " Blue Note is thrilled to announce the first fruits of their new exclusive contract with Terence Blanchard. "Terence is a consummate musician and composer," said Blue Note President Bruce Lundvall, "and his Blue Note debut is, in my opinion, a most exceptional musical statement from him and his amazing young band." Following in the footsteps of his own mentor, Art Blakey, Blanchard has assembled a group of the most talented and original young musicians in the world. As in the days of Blakey's Jazz Messengers, you probably haven't heard of the guys in this group - but you soon will! In clubs and concert halls around the world these days, Blanchard exudes the type of authority Blakey did when Blanchard was a young member of his Jazz Messengers. And, like Blakey, Blanchard invites his band members into the creative process, honed by playing in front of audiences. "The thing I love about these guys" Blanchard says of his current band, " is that each guy is capable of doing a lot of different things, of embracing all of jazz. And they're not afraid to do that." A few weeks after his stunning January 2003 date at Toronto's Top of the Senator, Blanchard took the same brilliant young band into the studio with legendary producer Michael Cuscuna and exec Bruce Lundvall. The result is superb straight-ahead jazz that is both highly original and respectful of its roots and traditions. DIANNE REEVES A LITTLE MOONLIGHT Dianne Reeves - Two-time Grammy Winner (2001 & 2002) Multiple Grammy Winner Arif Mardin - Producer of The Year 2003 N N 0 *"' LO "' N " Following her Grammy-winning orchestral album The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan, Dianne Reeves wanted to return to a simpler, all-acoustic setting. So in December 2002, Reeves entered the studio with legendary producer Arif Mardin to record an intimate collection of ten tunes featuring her touring trio. This is the album that critics and fans have been waiting for Dianne to make. Focused on romantic standards done in a simple setting, this is the true showcase for her superior voice that will stand as the album of her career to date. Tracks include I Concentrate On You, Skylark, What A Little Moonlight Can Do, Darn That Dream, Lullaby Of Broadway and You Go To My Head. www.bluenote.ca I www.emimusic.ca
