One of those albums that land in the mailbox and become forgotten. Then, by some quirk of fate, I slip it into the machine and hey! The charity shop ain't gonna get their paws on this one!
Over the years I've been fortunate to hear many of jazz's great piano trios live. Teddy Wilson, Oscar Peterson, Errol Garner, Marian McPartland, Mary Lou Williams and Bill Evans to mention but a few as well as many more on disc and I can say, with hand on heart, that Dave Bass is worthy of being included in that illustrious company.
I originally played it as a sleep-inducer. Bad call! From the opening As Long as There's Music to his own Another Ending - via more of his originals as well as pieces by Monk, Rodgers and Hart, John Carisi, Annette Peacock, Tadd Dameron and others - my eyes stayed wide open and it was only after the second listening that I fell into a blissful sleep.
I played it again the following day just to make sure I hadn't been dreaming and found, to my delight that, in the cold light of morning, it was even better!
Bass had originally played piano until a fall led to a wrist fracture and doctors told him he would never play piano again.
His musical ambitions behind him (or so he thought) he enrolled at uni, then law school and eventually became a Deputy Attorney General in California.
After sitting in at a party and at various jam sessions he discovered that the doctor's decisions were baloney and by 2015 he was back on the music scene.
This is the third of his trilogy of trio albums and is probably the best ever jazz album by a former Deputy Attorney General and ranks pretty high alongside those pianists who were called to a different bar.
Apart from Dave Bass and the trio who are, incidentally, superb, guitarist Barry Finnerty guests on three tracks to add that little bit of extra spice.
Well worth checking out. Lance
The Trio - Vol. 3 is self-released on May 12.
As Long as There's Music; Criss Cross; Endless Waltz; Agenbite of Nitwit*; With a Song in my Heart; El Ciego; Israel; Blood; If You Could See me Now; Played Twice; Libertango*; Another Ending*
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