Lafayette Harris Jr.: Swingin' Up in Harlem

It would cost top dollar to see and hear jazz musicians as busy and talented as pianist Lafayette Harris, Jr., bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash up-close and personal. On Harris' new album, Swingin' Up in Harlem, the trio cannot be seen but can definitely be heard and appreciated, which is the next best thing.

The session was recorded in February 2022 at the celebrated Rudy van Gelder studio in New Jersey, which is all that need be said about clarity and quality of sound. As for musical expertise and empathy, it simply does not get much better than this. Washington and Nash clearly need no introduction to well-informed jazz fans, while Harris has been at or near the top of the A-list of in-demand pianists on the New York scene for almost four decades.

Which bring us to the choice of material, which by and large is splendid. Harris opens and closes with his own sunny compositions ("Swingin' Up in Harlem," "Nat's Blues"), sandwiching between them five well-known standards alongside Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City," Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas" and Tommy Edwards' chart-topper from 1958, "It's All in the Game." The standards are "Teach Me Tonight," "The Nearness of You," "Over the Rainbow," Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" and Duke Ellington's "Solitude."

If there is a damper—and indeed if one can even call it that—it is that the album is rather slow-paced, with only "St. Thomas" and Harris' originals taken at a more than easygoing tempo. "Swingin' Up in Harlem" has the most juice, and Harris plays it brilliantly, dropping just enough hints during his commentary to identify its provenance as "How High the Moon." "Stardust" is played as a quasi-waltz, which is well-suited to its entrancing melody.

While Harris is the main soloist—and is never less than admirable—Washington and Nash take their swings as well, proving—as if they needed to—that they are on the same wavelength as their leader. While this is impressive jazz, even if these gentlemen were reciting a phone book there is no way they could be awarded less than four stars.