Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Leo Volskiy: Good News Blues

4

Leo Volskiy: Good News Blues

By

View read count
Leo Volskiy: Good News Blues
Saint Petersburg is Russia's jazz capital, home to Igor Butman-Bill Clinton's favorite living saxophonist, and chosen for his musical debut by none other than Vladimir "Fats" Putin. Pianist Leo Volskiy also hails from the city, but no longer lives there. After studying at the Mussorgsky College of Music and listening to local musicians at such clubs as the Jazz Philharmonic Hall and the Red Fox Jazz Cafe, Volskiy left in 2004 to live and work in Hamburg. From here he journeyed to New York to cut his debut album.

It's a solid, well-grounded, no-nonsense affair in which the young Russian pays tribute to the greats of the bop and post-bop eras-men like Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Elmo Hope, Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones and Barry Harris-backed by one of best rhythm sections in the Big Apple-John Webber on bass and drummer Joe Farnsworth.

There are two Bud Powell compositions, interestingly neither among his best known works. "Webb City" is a tribute to pre-bop trumpeter Freddie Webster, who Dizzy Gillespie said had "the best sound on trumpet since the trumpet was invented" but who, alas, died from a heroin overdose in 1947. Then there's "In The Mood For A Classic," written by Powell "for France in general," in the Boullemont Sanitorium near Paris, while he was recuperating from tuberculosis in 1963.

Volskiy has performed a great service in resurrecting these largely forgotten masterpieces by the father of modern jazz piano.

He also includes two of his own compositions. "Good News Blues" is actually bop and very much in the Powell tradition, busy and percussive. There's a nice solo from Webber that evokes the work of the great Oscar Pettiford. "Park Campus" has more air through it and some nice melodies that hark back on occasion to the swing era.

Volskiy saves his party piece for last: a lovely, lilting solo piano treatment of "Moonlight In Vermont" in which he rarely strays too far from the melody, yet still manages to put his own stamp on the old ballad.

Track Listing

My Heart Stood Still; In The Mood For A Classic; Good News Blues; Heart And Soul; Alone Together; Conception; Park Campus; Webb City; Moonlight In Vermont.

Personnel

Leo Volskiy: piano; John Webber: bass; Joe Farnsworth: drums.

Album information

Title: Good News Blues | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Jazzing Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About 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 make 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.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves 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.

Near

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

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

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.