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John Stowell/Dave Liebman: Blue Rose
ByThe duo opens with the title tune, from the Duke Ellington songbook. "Blue Rose," the song, was written by Ellington specifically for vocalist Rosemary Clooney, for an album of the same name, released on Columbia Records in 1956. Stowell and Liebman give the tune a plucky turn. Liebman's blowing the soprano sax here, proving why is is one of the top practitioners of the "straight horn." His tone has a sweetness, a purity of tone as his notes twine themselves around Stowell's warm string play.
Liebman switches to tenor for saxophonist Wayne Shorter's "Fe Fi Fo Fum." Liebman, on tenor, is one of the more recognizable voices on that particular horn. His tone can be clean, but it will switch, unexpectedly, to segments of gruff, growly blowing that threatens to break out into a free zone. The duo goes back to Ellington territory, with Billy Strayhorn's "Isfaran." Liebman's tenor blossoms out of an extended Stowell solo, giving the tune a forlorn mood. Cole Porter's "Everything I Love" brings back a bright mood, with Liebman's tenor sounding particularly frisky.
Liebman, surpisingly, switches to piano for pianist Bill Evans' "Time Remembered," for a poignant and ruminative take on the tune, much in line with Evans many recorded versions. Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Until Paisagem" has a restraint, a beautiful delicacy. Liebman's back on soprano, with an added richness to his sound on this Brazilian groove.
Two veterans, Stowell and Liebman, take on this set of standard tunes in their own distinctive way. A gorgeous, uncluttered set, exploring the purity and beauty of the familiar.
Track Listing
Blue Rose; Fe Fi Fo Fum; Isfahan; Everything I Love; Time Remembered; Until Paisagem; Molten Glass; My Ideal; Everybody's Song But My Own; Black Eyes; How Deep Is The Ocean.
Personnel
John Stowell: guitars; Dave Liebman: soprano and tenor saxophones,wood Flute; piano (5).
Album information
Title: Blue Rose | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Origin Records
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