Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mike Melvoin Presents Dan Jaffe: Playing The Word
Mike Melvoin Presents Dan Jaffe: Playing The Word
Jazz is about the beat, and really nothing but the beat. Jack Kerouac knew this, so did Kenneth Patchen and Tom Waits. You know a jazzman when you meet him. It's in his walk and the cadence of his breaths.
All of the essence of hip is captured quite nicely on this duo recording by poet Dan Jaffe and pianist Mike Melvoin. Melvoin is a veteran pianist with a performance history that includes Frank Sinatra, Joe Williams, Peggy Lee and Bobby Watson. Jaffe has authored a dozen books and a jazz opera.
Jaffe and Melvoin chose the jazz that swung Kansas City and morphed into bebop—the cufflinks of Bird and the bandstands of local favorites, where lives passed one saloon to the next. Fans of poetry find both great prose and, better yet, a storyteller's delivery. Jaffe's voice invites you into his inner circle, his club. By the end you're pals, and you devour every story. There's Bird and Mingus, but more importantly, the unknown keepers of the jazz flame.
The music is flawlessly intertwined with the words. Mike Melvoin weaves blues and jazz into the stories. Together, the pair recreate a place in mind that seems now to have been suspended in time. Quite a beautiful session.
Track Listing
All Cats Turn Gray When The Sun Goes Down; Over On Main; Turning The Town; Walking With Mingus; Remembering Frank Smith; After Hours; Notes From The Williamsburg; Starting With Langston; Blowing; Bird Talk; High Flyers; It Sure Is Risky And Afterwords; Bass Talk; Who Knows Where The Blues Was Born?; Cajon/Gojazz; All Cats Turn Gray When The Sun Goes Down.
Personnel
Dan Jaffe: spoken word; Mike Melvoin: piano.
Album information
Title: Playing The Word | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: City Light Entertainment
About Mike Melvoin
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.
