Another piece of Tristanoism emerges. This time in the form of Larry Bluth, a pianist and a Tristanoite by proxy of having studied with Lennie Tristano's most well-known piano student Sal Mosca.
Hopefully, the release of this album and the Mosca album reviewed a couple of days back may lead to a renewed interest in Tristano and his followers of whom I'm rapidly becoming one. This may sound like heresy and it probably is but, much as I love Monk, apart from Stan Tracey, his imitators tend to sound like Les Dawson!
Listening to this superb trio album (bassist Messina is another member of the T Club and drummer Chattin is also a card-carrying member) makes me realise how important Lennie was in the evolution of modern jazz and how proud he would have been to know that his legacy had been carried on so well by Mosca and Bluth. All three are now gone but, hopefully there are pianists out there carrying on the tradition.
The late George Wallington was one who's career paralleled Lennie's and bore stylistic similarities.
Another was, unbelievably, a man who never recorded and played in a CIU club in Hebburn with Bill Shaw on drums!
This was John Short - a long forgotten Hebburn musician remembered only by those club 'turns' who tried to sing Delilah over complex diminished chords and ruptured ninths with which John 'enhanced' their performance. Nevertheless, he was an outstanding musician who was way ahead of his time on South Tyneside and maybe anywhere else had he chosen to expand his horizons further than the Colliery Club.
Getting back to the matter in hand. If you liked Lennie, you'll like this, if you liked Sal, you'll like this, if you like modern jazz when jazz was modern, you'll LOVE this. Lance
Klactoveedsedsteen; Sweet and Lovely; Sippin' at Bell's; A Ghost of a Chance; Yesterdays; Riverdale; Larry's Line; These Foolish Things; Sound-Lee.
1 comment :
You're so right Lance to mention pianist John Short in the S Tyneside area. I was lucky enough to be in his Trio for a while working at "The Kismet Club" and "The Shore Line Club" These jobs were an education in life......
For our supper at the Kismet we were given a few chips and a little curry sauce to dip them in..........!
John had a great talent and as you know, was taken from us too early from cancer....
Dave B.
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