Backgrounder: Ray Brown Trio - 'Don't Get Sassy'

On April 21 and 22, 1994, the Ray Brown Trio went in to studio A at Signet Sound in West Hollywood to record an album called Don't Get Sassy for Robert Woods and Jack Renner's Telarc label. The trio was comprised of Benny Green on piano, Ray Brown on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums, and there appears to have been an audience on hand in the studio.

This trio had been playing and recording together since 1991, when they backed James Morrison on Two the Max. Bass Face was next in 1993, followed by It's a Wonderful World backing vocalist Allan Harris with Claudio Roditi (tp,flhrn) and Tom Varner (fhr) and Mark Whitfield (g) in 1995. That same year, drummer Gregory Hutchinson replaced Hamilton, and other albums were recorded in 1995 and in 1996. In 1997, the trio was joined by Oscar Peterson on Oscar & Benny. [Photo above, from left, Jeff Hamilton, Ray Brown and Benny Green at Bermuda Onion Club in Toronto by Barry Thomson]

On Don't Get Sassy, the album not only features a powerful Ray Brown but also showcases Benny, whose playing is magnificent with Peterson's influence on glorious display. The album is spectacular all the way through, so I figured I'd post it today as a Backgrounder—an album you can enjoy uninterrupted without ads. If you'd like to buy it, you'll find Don't Get Sassy here as a CD and digital download.

Here's the album...