Dan Dean: 2 5 1 (2010)

Dan McClenaghan

Senior Contributor since 2002

A lover of sounds, and the way they fit together.

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Published: April 11, 2010

Bassist Dan Dean is no stranger to the format of the intimate duo. His teaming with vibraphonist Tom Collier on the superb and aptly titled Duets (Origin Records, 2005) was a bright sparkling gem of a recording. On 2 5 1 he goes for a broader exploration of that sound, pairing up with four of his favorite keyboard players.

The generous set, coming in at nearly eighty minutes, opens with the tried and true American Songbook jewel, "S'Wonderful." Kenny Werner Kenny Werner
b.1951
piano sits in the piano chair for an effervescent take on George Gershwin George Gershwin
1898 - 1937
composer/conductor 's familiar melody, the piano bubbling and bouncing. Dean's bass is deep and tight in the groove, laying the foundation for a joyously implacable momentum.

Antonio Carlos Jobim Antonio Carlos Jobim
1927 - 1994
piano 's "One Note Samba" introduces Larry Goldings Larry Goldings
b.1968
keyboard on Hammond B3 organ, injecting some soul into the Bossa rhythms. The choice of Goldings is an inspired one. His B3 work on four tunes that are shuffled in with seven other piano workouts mixes up the sound and keeps the music interesting. The organist takes things down south on "Georgia on My Mind;" he also gets seriously soulful on James Brown James Brown
1933 - 2006
vocal 's classic "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and turns Thelonious Monk Thelonious Monk
1917 - 1982
piano 's "In Walked Bud" into a cool breeze romp.

The set is something of a jazz standards/Great American Songbook 101 class. On the perennially familiar "Lover Man," a classic vehicle for Billie Holiday Billie Holiday
1915 - 1959
vocal and Charlie Parker Charlie Parker
1920 - 1955
sax, alto , Dean teams with Gil Goldstein Gil Goldstein
, whose accordion gives the tunes a reverent mood in the style of a church organ. Goldstein plays piano on Jerome Kern Jerome Kern
1895 - 1945
arranger and Oscar Hammerstein's "All the Things You Are," opening in a spare, space-laden reverie until Dean and Goldstein borrow Charlie Parker's riff from his take on tune, cranking the sound into a bright and extroverted atmosphere.

George Duke George Duke
b.1946
piano contributes the only non-classic to the set with his "It's On." It's a funky conversation between his piano and the leader's bass, with some flourishes in the style of Oscar Peterson Oscar Peterson
1925 - 2007
piano thrown in. Duke displays a supple touch on "Stella By Starlight," injected with dazzling runs and a playful exuberance. Kenny Werner meditates on "Body and Soul" to close out the show. Dean's bass is just a whisper, a gentle heartbeat behind the pensive melody. It's perfect close to a wonderful set of duets.

Track Listing: S'Wonderful; One Note Samba; All the Things You Are; It's On; Dolphin Dance; Georgia On My Mind; Stella By Starlight; I Got You (I Feel Good); Lover Man; In Walked Bud; Body and Soul.

Personnel: Dan Dean: electric bass; George Duke: piano (4, 7); Larry Goldings: Hammond B3 Organ (2, 6, 8, 10); Gil Goldstein: piano and accordion (3, 9); Kenny Werner: piano (1, 5, 11).

Record Label: Origin Records
Style: Straight-ahead/Mainstream