Jazz Articles about Ray Bryant

Ray Bryant: Somewhere In France

by Jim Santella
July 1, 2001

Recorded in 1993 before a live audience somewhere in France, this session was sitting around in Ray Bryant's home on a cassette tape that the sound man had handed him after the performance. The artist hadn't had time to listen to it; he hadn't even realized he was being recorded until the performance was over.

The session turns out to be a significant milestone that documents this unique pianist. As a solo piano performance, the music is unobstructed. The sound ...

Ray Bryant: North of the Border

by C. Michael Bailey
July 1, 2001

New Jazz Chamber Music from None Other than Ray Bryant.

A new myth is carefully woven in the fabric of producer Joel Dorn's career. This one involves a trash sack of cassette tapes collected by pianist Ray Bryant's sound engineer of live Bryant performances over the past number of years. Out of this entire trash sack, Dorn found about 50 performances that Bryant liked. Dorn further narrowed this down to about ten performances for release. The first of these was ...

Ray Bryant: North Of The Border

by AAJ Staff
July 1, 2001

If only the rest of us could find overlooked valuables tucked away in closets and cabinets as efficiently and nonchalantly as can Ray Bryant. But then, the rest of us don't have Ray Bryant's talent, his worldwide performing schedule or his modesty. Such quiet modesty led Bryant to tuck away the performance tapes that recording engineers have given him over the years until a less-modest Joel Dorn discovered the cache. Since that discovery, a rediscovery of Ray Bryant's prolific career ...

Ray Bryant, Hank Crawford, Heavy Flute: Three By Label M

by Douglas Payne
December 1, 2000

I have a belief that all writing must avoid the nominative singular pronoun, “I.” This is particularly necessary in reviews or interviews. What is any reader to think of an article allegedly about something or someone else when it’s littered with references to “I,” “me” and “my”? Who cares? A good writer will reveal personal knowledge or discourse in writing that easily avoids such personal interjections.Well, since I’ve now contradicted my own theory, I’ll blame producer ...

Ray Bryant: Somewhere In France

by AAJ Staff
October 1, 2000

Now that the newest label in the jazz recording industry, Label M, is gaining momentum in the volume and frequency of its releases, producer Joel Dorn goes back to one of his earlier successes. That earlier classic album is Ray Bryant's Alone At Montreaux.Once again, Dorn is releasing one of Bryant's live recordings somewhere in Europe. This time, the country happens to be France, and the discovery of the live tape amounts to one of the year's top ...

Ray Bryant (32 Jazz (32128): Ray Bryant: Alone at Montreux

by C. Michael Bailey
August 1, 1999

Ray Bryant’s Piano. Alone At Montreux is the result of 32 Jazz’s Joel Dorn’s tenure at Atlantic records. Through a collaboration with the Atlantic/Rhino re-release project, music that would otherwise go unreleased, will now see the light of ear. There is little live solo Bryant available, making this offering that much more valuable.

The Blues...as Usual. Ray Bryant is a blues player, par excellence. He is equaled only by Gene Harris and Junior Mance. The blues infuses all that Bryant ...

Ray Bryant: Alone At Montreux

by Jim Santella
June 1, 1999

A little more than a year ago, Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt won Academy Awards for their roles in the film As Good As It Gets. In one memorable scene, Nicholson turns to the male costar, an artist, and remarks, “If that did it for me I’d be the luckiest guy in the world" (or words to that effect). Ray Bryant’s “After Hours" and “Slow Freight" do that for me. Deep rumbling bass notes, a full orchestral sound with gospel ...