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Jay Leonhart Trio: Fly Me to the Moon: Tribute to Ray Brown
ByBut no matter; all that one needs to enjoy this superb release are ears, a CD player, and a basic understanding of the language of jazz. This stellar trio plays its way through eleven standards in nearly 66 minutes, and the result is as fresh and tasty as you could ever wish. The trio's instrumentation begs comparison with the great Oscar Peterson Trio, of whom Brown was such an important member, but this threesome plays with confidence and gusto, as if to scoff at the folly of such futile mind play. Joy and good fun exude from the disc as if from pores. Green's creativity, technique, musicianship, and general ebullience are capable of lifting one's mood faster than Prozac, while Cohn's melodic and harmonic virtuosity and vocabulary are quietly dazzling. In addition to rock-solid time and satisfying solos, Leonhart provides leadership and the glue that ensures against the episodic risk of centrifugal disintegration.
Highlights of the album include a brisk and sparkling "Street Where You Live"; Green's awe-inspiring solo on "No Greater Love"; Green and Cohn's counterpoint in the opening minute and again near the conclusion of "Just in Time"; Leonhart's wistful arco bass solos in "Alone Together" that sandwich a swinging samba beat; and the beautiful, underexposed Cole Porter ballad "Dream Dancing." The CD concludes with the lovely and relatively obscure "Some Other Time" by Leonard Bernstein, after which my player is conveniently set to "replay."
Track Listing
When Lights Are Low; On the Street Where You Live; Skylark; There Is No Greater Love; That Old Feeling; Just in Time; Alone Together; Fly Me to the Moon; I've Got the World on a String; Dream Dancing; Some Other Time
Personnel
Jay Leonhart
bassJay Leonhart (bass), Benny Green (piano), and Joe Cohn (guitar)
Album information
Title: Fly Me to the Moon: Tribute to Ray Brown | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Venus Records