Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Russell Malone: Playground
Russell Malone: Playground
Playground is basically a quartet date showcasing Malone’s working group with brief guest appearances by two highly accomplished and widely underrated artists, vibraphonist Joe Locke (“Sugar Buzz”) and alto saxophonist Gary Bartz (“Mandela”). Malone wrote six of the ten selections, including those two, and while I’ve nothing against Malone the guitarist/composer, the songs that most pleased my ear are the four that weren’t—Billy Strayhorn’s “Something to Live For,” Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields’ “Remind Me,” Richard and Karen Carpenter’s “We’ve Only Just Begun” (set to a seductive Latin beat) and Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend.” Malone plays unaccompanied on “Friend,” as he does on “Remind Me,” showing in each instance that he needs no help whatever to weave a lustrous musical tapestry. In fact, without disparaging the contributions of pianist Martin Bejerano, bassist Tassili Bond or drummer E.J. Strickland, which are sizable, I wouldn’t have been displeased by an entire album of Malone’s solo guitar. Perhaps MaxJazz could consider doing that at some future date.
Meanwhile, we have Playground, and it’s a largely pleasurable outing with splendid blowing by all hands. My preference for the four songs noted above isn’t meant to imply that Malone’s compositions are without merit — as a whole they’re pretty good, especially “Playground” and “Invisible Colors.” The rapid-fire “Sugar Buzz” gives everyone a chance to show his chops, while the darkly painted “Mandela” is a sturdy vehicle for Bartz’s unvarnished alto and Malone’s chordal meditations. A solid debut for the String Series and for Malone as a member of the MaxJazz team.
Track Listing
Your Should Know Better; Blues For Mulgrew; Something To Live For; Sugar Buzz; Playground; Remind Me; We
Personnel
Russell Malone
guitarRussell Malone
Album information
Title: Playground | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: MAXJAZZ
About Russell Malone
Tags
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Become a Sustaining Member
Since 1995, All About Jazz has championed jazz as an art form and supported the musicians who create it. Over three decades, it has grown into one of the world's leading jazz resources, serving hundreds of thousands of readers, musicians, presenters and industry professionals each month.
Help Build the Future of All About Jazz
Your support helps us continue building All About Jazz for the next generation—expanding our editorial coverage, preserving jazz history, developing new community features and creating better ways to discover the music and the people behind it.
Become a sustaining member for as little as $20 per year and you'll immediately enjoy an ad-free experience along with access to subscriber features and future articles for a full year.
Together, we're not simply sustaining All About Jazz—we're building its future. Thank you for being part of the journey.
