Rob Barron (piano); Jeremy Brown (bass); Josh Morrison (drums).
Way back when, if the label read Blue Note, Prestige or Contemporary, American jazz record buyers knew they were getting the best. Over here, Vogue, Esquire and Tempo ensured British listeners didn't miss out either.
Fast forward to today and one of the labels carrying the baton and threatening to lap the field is Ubuntu Music who have produced many outstanding albums of which this is one of the best.
It may be thought that the jazz piano trio, particularly one playing standards, was long past its sell-by date. I mean to say, after Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson, Errol Garner, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett etc. what's left?
Well, there's Rob Barron for starters ...
The piano is an instrument of such diversity that the permutations of notes and chords are forever available for experimentation and Barron does this beautifully. The explorative nature of the ballads, the fast and loose swingers, the inbetweeners, all indicate that here is a pianist (and composer) to be reckoned with.
Lover Man is not given the poignancy normally associated with the tune, instead it's sent on a roller coaster ride that takes nothing away from the original melody despite being far removed from the composer's intent. But that's what I like abouut the album. You recognise the title but it doesn't always turn out to be as you expected. This is the beauty of playing standards. Even if a song has been done 99 different ways the creative artist will still discover the 100th way to tackle it. Bill Evans had that quality and, on the evidence of this album, so has Rob Barron.
Ably aided and abetted by Brown and Morrison, this is one disc I couldn't wait to play again.
Lance
Lover Man; Pure Imagination; My Foolish Heart; Butch and Butch; Fortune Green (original); In a Sentimental Mood; From This Moment on; As Time Goes By; Evidently (original); A Time For Love.
Available Oct. 2 on Ubuntu Music UBU064.
1 comment :
I've just seen this write up and it brought back very happy memories of one of Tristan Maillot's Loire Jazz Courses I attended in 2014 with Anita Wardell leading the vocalists. Our piano accompaniment was Rob Barron and Barry Green - I certainly didn't realise then just how lucky I was!! So I have just listened to the recording I have of me singing Speak Low and Here Comes that Rainy Day with Rob. Thanks Lance for the review.
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