Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Steve Kuhn Trio: Live at Birdland

154

Steve Kuhn Trio: Live at Birdland

By

View read count
Steve Kuhn Trio: Live at Birdland
With so many major jazz labels shying away from signing veteran artists in favor of far less accomplished youngsters, it is refreshing to see Steve Kuhn finally leading his first Blue Note release. This live CD taped at New York City's Birdland, with bassist Ron Carter and drummer Al Foster, marks a reunion for this trio, following two separate recordings made (for Owl and Black Hawk) during an extended 1986 Village Vanguard gig and even reprising a pair of songs from each album.

Whether or not this particular trio has played together over the past twenty years, the magic is rekindled on stage, recorded over two nights with no rehearsals whatsoever. Kuhn's playful scoring of Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz makes use of the full range of the keyboard, while his side-splitting quotes in the romp through Kenny Dorham's "Lotus Blossom include licks from "Eleanor Rigby and "Manteca. Carter's walking bass powers the driving setting of "Slow Hot Wind, while the elegant rendition of the bassist's romantic "Little Waltz hushes the room and showcases its composer's phenomenal chops on his instrument.

The explosive take of the bop favorite "Confirmation finds Kuhn venturing off into wild and dissonant improvisations at times. Throughout both evenings, Foster provides just the right touch, never overplaying his hand. Hopefully, there are plans for a follow up CD from these 2006 Birdland performances.

Track Listing

If I Were A Bell; Jitterbug Waltz; Two by Two; La Plus Que Lente/Passion Flower; Little Waltz; Lotus Blossom; Stella by Starlight; Slow Hot Wind; Clotilde; Confirmation.

Personnel

Steve Kuhn: piano; Ron Carter: bass; Al Foster: drums.

Album information

Title: Live at Birdland | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: Blue Note Records

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

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.