Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jeff Kaye: Just Like Me

241

Jeff Kaye: Just Like Me

By

View read count
Jeff Kaye: Just Like Me
This breezy, boppish blowing session by Los Angeles-based trumpeter Jeff Kaye's quintet calls to mind Blue Note dates from the '50s and '60s featuring the likes of Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Wynton Kelly, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Cedar Walton, Wayne Shorter, Tommy Flanagan, and so many others. It's most likely not destined to become a classic, as some of those earlier albums were, but is nonetheless bright and agreeable on its own terms.

As was often the case with the Blue Note sessions, Just Like Me opens with a finger-snapping blues, Rick Hils' upbeat "Harvey Headbanger, dedicated to Kaye's long-time friend and employer, the late Ray Charles. Kaye was a member of Charles' band from 1984-92, gigged with him on and off for the next nine years, rejoined the band in 2001-03, and performed on the soundtrack of Ray, the award-winning film about Charles' life. Tenor saxophonist George Harper and drummer Paul Kreibich are also alumni of the Ray Charles Big Band.

Kreibich and Harper each contributed one tune—Kreibich the samba-like "Partido in Mar Vista, Harper the African-influenced "Shalabunga —while bassist Isla Eckinger wrote "Two Deaf Lice (based loosely on the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice ) and the ballad "Jay, a heartfelt tribute to the late saxophonist Jay Migliore. Kaye composed the pensive bossa "Sozinho and the prancing "Other Steps, based on Coltrane's "Giant Steps. Completing the program are Brian Mitchell's playful "Real Gone (on which Kaye uses a Harmon mute), Dizzy Gillespie's groovy "That's Earl, Brother, trombonist John Boice's placid "J.B.'s Waltz, and the seldom-heard standard "Everything I Have Is Yours (once a big hit for vocalist Billy Eckstine, and here a showcase for Kaye's expressive trumpet).

Kaye's temperament is quite pleasing, especially on flugel, while Harper harbors some Mobley in his soul and his sound. Together they form a sturdy front line and are deftly supported by Eckinger, Kreibich, and pianists John Campbell (six tracks) or Josh Nelson (five), with Tony Poignsett's bongos added (a nice touch) on "Partido. There's nothing here that hasn't been done before—much of it by the Blue Note artists cited earlier—but on the other hand, nothing that isn't earnest or perceptive, either. A well-designed 65 minutes of straight-on jazz bolstered by crystal-clear sound.

Track Listing

Harvey Headbanger; Two Deaf Lice; Sozinho; Real Gone; Partido in Mar Vista; Everything I Have Is Yours; That

Personnel

Jeff Kaye
trumpet

Jeff Kaye: trumpet, flugelhorn; George Harper: saxophone; Josh Nelson: piano (1,2,4,8,9); John Campbell: piano (3,5-7,10,11); Isla Eckinger: bass; Paul Kreibich: drums; Tony Poignsett: bongos (5).

Album information

Title: Just Like Me | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Jazzed Media

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Jeff Kaye Concerts

Sep 17 Wed
Oct 1 Wed
Oct 15 Wed
Nov 5 Wed
Nov 19 Wed
Dec 10 Wed

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

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

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.