Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » The Sheryl Bailey 3: Live @ The Fat Cat

335

The Sheryl Bailey 3: Live @ The Fat Cat

By

Sign in to view read count
The Sheryl Bailey 3: Live @ The Fat Cat
At home in many musical milieus, Sheryl Bailey's guitar speaks both viscerally and cerebrally. Of late, she has been most comfortable in her Hammond B3 trio with organist Gary Versace and drummer Ian Froman. Live versions of songs from their two initial studio releases make up only roughly a third of Live @ The Fat Cat, which captures the band over two nights at the Greenwich Village club. This latest chronicle reveals that the group has matured to a point where Bailey's incredible guitar technique is skillfully interwoven into the trio's overall sound.

Although the band begins to cook early, with Bailey shooting sparks from her guitar about two minutes into the opening "Cedar's Mood, a tribute to the great hard bop pianist Cedar Walton, there is a lovely patina to each of these cuts. Versace's ebb and flow, combined with Froman's textural playing, gives the music a profound richness, and the tributes to Coltrane's spirit, "Starbrite and "Elvin People, are even more devotional live.

Bailey's singularity as a guitarist lies with her lethal combination of blistering leads and captivating chords, and happily both are in evidence here. The new material is very strong: the beautifully unhurried tension building "A Soft Green Light, the chordal explorations of "Dance of the Dream Maker and "Tune Down, and the ethereal tribute to klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer, "The Wishing Well. "Midnite Swim is a late-night bath in juicy B3 sound, and everyone's favorite bop-rocker, "Swamp Thang, arises again from the mire for a wall-shaking and window-rattling conclusion. If you have never heard this group, Live @ The Fat Cat is a great intro to the best working B3 trio around.

Track Listing

Cedar's Mood; A Soft Green Light; Starbrite; Elvin People; Dance of the Dream Maker; Tune Down; The Wishing Well; Midnite Swim; Swamp Thang.

Personnel

Sheryl Bailey: guitar/pen; Gary Versace: Hammond B3; Ian Froman: drums.

Album information

Title: Live @ The Fat Cat | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: PureMusic Records

Comments

Tags

Concerts


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.
View events near New York City
Jazz Near New York City
Events Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...

More

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.