Larry Vuckovich: Young At Heart

C. Michael Bailey

Senior Contributor since 1997

...wants to know if Gene Harris is playing "Summertime" in Heaven...

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Published: February 1, 2001

Pianist Larry Vuckovich and friends provides a heartfelt tribute to Lester Young, Count Basie, and Charlie Parker.

This sextet sounds and swings like a big band, reminding me of Basie's Kansas City Seven. The two-tenor front of Jules Broussard and Noel Jewkes provides a riffing wall of sound that possesses a powerful momentum as Vuckovich steers his tribute group through chestnuts associated with Lester Young, Count Basie, and Charlie Parker. Inspired by Phil Schaap's WKCR (New York) tribute to Prez and Bird on their birthdays, Vuckovich assembled his Young At Heart Sextet. The repertoire is well known and well played here. Suffice it to say, this is a splendid disc that caters to the middle-of-the-road jazz listener. The originals, "Why Not" and "Lester People" are highlights of the genre. I warmly recommend this disc. There can never be too many recordings of this type of music.

Track Listing: Why Not; Blue And Sentimental; Jumpin' With Symphony Sid; She's Just My Side; Besame Macho; Sweet Lorraine; Jumpin' At The Woodside; The Man I Love; The Lady's In Love With You; Young At Heart; Ornithology; Sometimes I'm Happy; Lester People. (Total Time: 70:54) .

Personnel: Larry Vuckovich: Piano; Jules Broussard: Tenor And Alto Saxophones; Harold Jones, Dottie Dodgion: Drums; Noel Jewkes: Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, And Flute; Josh Workman, Bob Basa: Guitar; Buca Necak, Nat Johnson: Bass; Louis Romero: Latin Percussion.

Record Label: Tetrachord Music
Style: Straight-ahead/Mainstream