Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » The Jim Burke Trio: Hands On

159

The Jim Burke Trio: Hands On

By

View read count
The Jim Burke Trio: Hands On
Although a native New Yorker, it was in Chicago that Jim Burke honed his pianistic skills playing with the likes of violinist Johnny Frigo and others. Moving to San Francisco in 1982, he quickly made a name in that city's jazz community. This inaugural CD is a stage for his stylish elegance as the music flows from his piano like a rippling stream, clean, bright and breathtakingly beautiful. No matter the genre or tempo, whether the blues as on Ahmad Jamal's Nite Mist Blues or a waltz on "I Have Dreamed" from the King and I, or an intense "Sometime Ago", Burke's piano brilliantly captures that all the music has to offer. He gets some help from his friends on this session. Bassist Robb Fisher is no silent partner in this trio. His plucked bass creates some interesting under tones to Burke's piano. On "Like Someone in Love", the bass is placed closed to the mike so Fisher's musings are not drowned out by the keyboard. Thus, the listener gets the full effect of improvisions Fisher is creating over the melody line. Nice stuff! "Here's That Rainy Day" is handled as delicately as one would a valuable piece of art. Although Burke and Robb get the lion's share of visibility, Lee Charlton's gets in a lick or two on such tunes as Miles Davis' jazz classic "All Blues". Otherwise his steady hands at the drums is the steering wheel that keeps the session from going off the road.

As indicated earlier, this is Burke's first recording. Regrettably, it's also his last since sadly he passed away shortly after it was cut. Hands On is piano trio playing at its finest and a fitting legacy for this sensitive and talented pianist.

Track Listing

Sometime Ago; Like Someone in Love; Nite Mist Blues; Luck Be a Lady Tonight; Some Other Time; All Blues; Here's That Rainy Day; Estat

Personnel

Jim Burke - Piano; Robb Fisher - Bass; Lee Charlton - Drums

Album information

Title: Hands On | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Music in the Vines

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.

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.