CD Review: Larry Fuller - Overjoyed

Larry Fuller (piano), Hassan Shakur (bass), Lewis Nash (drums).

(Review by Dave Brownlow).

What a pleasure it is to come across an album such as this which incorporates many of the best qualities of jazz music – swing, the blues, chops, flair, humour, drive, surprise, good taste, invention, and sheer joy. Larry Fuller has worked with many notable musicians - Ray Brown, Ernestine Anderson, Harry Edison, Phil Woods, Clark Terry, John Pizzarelli - and he brings the experience gained to the piano keyboard in his own soulful style on this CD.

Fuller likes to connect with the audience emotionally through the ‘joie de vivre’ of his playing much as Oscar Peterson did and indeed there are connections to Oscar’s famous trio throughout. Larry played long-term in the Ray Brown Trio, also including a Peterson composition here. The trio arrangements are tight and well rehearsed, and the exuberance and élan of his playing is reminiscent at times of O.P. himself. Standards, blues, jazz, pop, bossa-nova – Fuller is comfortable and expert in all of those genres with excellent support from Shakur and Nash.

Wes Montgomery’s Fried Pies gets us off to a ‘groovy’ start with plenty of grits and gravy. Stevie Wonder’s Overjoyed has a flowing, delicate interpretation in ‘bossa’ style with lots of filigree upper-register runs from the pianist, anchored by sturdy support from bass and drums. A “bluesy” Ray Brown composition, Lined with a Groove, includes fine, agile work from the bassist very much in the style of Ray himself. Two Fuller originals follow. Jane’s Theme features a tightly arranged trio head with statement and performance on an attractive chord sequence. A soulful The Mooch charges along in a joyful examination of an age-old chord sequence so beloved of jazzers. The Gershwin’s standard How Long Has This Been Going On, unaccompanied, has a typical Peterson out-of-tempo theme, leading to a ‘stride’ solo which swings irresistibly.

Cubano Chant, from the pen of Ray Bryant, charges along joyfully with Fuller mining many of the traditional blues phrases. Mona Lisa (Evans and Livingstone) is charmingly, unpretentiously played in ballad style (a far cry from Conway Twitty’s 1959 version!) Peterson’s fast, intricate Bossa Beguine is a tour-de-force for the group and after a tightly arranged theme segment, Larry shows off his fine technique and Nash also shines on the fours.

Richard Evans’ slightly melancholic Bossa Nove De Marilla is tastefully played with classical influences throughout. More glittering right-hand runs enhance this track. Never Let Me Go (also by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston) is a thoughtful, sensitive, unaccompanied piece where Larry digs deep in an emotional rendering of the well-known song. A lively work out on Preston Foster’s Got My Mojo Workin’ and the CD ends with a good dose of the foundation of jazz – the blues.

Larry Fuller’s own philosophy sums up this release accurately – “To uplift people with the joyous spirit of the music. “To play with joy, to swing and play the blues. These are the hallmarks of jazz that inspired me and are the traditions I continue to aspire to”

Dave B

Available now on Capri Records - #74155-2 from: caprirecords.com or

larryfuller.com/about/