Stanley Jordan: Friends (2011)

There is no guitarist quite like Stanley Jordan, a star from the moment Blue Note Records launched its second life in 1985 with his own commercial debut, The Magic Touch. In response, a respected reviewer stated that the lanky 26-year-old fresh from several years spent refining his craft as a Manhattan street busker had extended the limits of the guitar, adding that few players in the history of music of music have brought an instrument to a more radical crossroad.
He reached the public for reasons pertaining both to his astonishing chops (his sui generis touch technique, a pianistic approach that enabled him to play melody, chords and basslines simultaneously), exemplary musicianship, and consistent devotion to melodic and creative imperatives. But at a certain point in the early 90s, Jordan retreated from his career, and although he soon returned to public performance he operated without a label until 2008, when he released State of Nature on the rising-star Detroit-based indie Mack Avenue.
Whether playing in public or in the studio, it has been Jordan s intention to make his own inventions the primary focus of the occasion. But on his forthcoming release,Friends [Mack Avenue] (said friends include guitar heros Mike Stern, Bucky Pizzarelli, Charlie Hunter, and Rusell Malone; saxophonists Kenny Garrett and Ronnie Laws; and violinist Regina Carter), Jordan is a consummate team player, prodding and igniting the flow on an 11-piece program that runs a 360-degree gamut of stylistic food groups.
At 52, Jordan has something consequential to SAY in each genre, as though he s thought deeply about each mode of expression over many years. Highlights include a four-to-the-floor, George Benson on steroids cover of Katy Perry s I Kissed A Girl (without overdubbing, Jordan plays the melody on piano while chording for himself on the guitar), an idiomatic investigation of Bela Bartok, a lively samba for Laws, and various ebullient, spectacularly executed interactions with each member of his guitar cohort. ~ Ted Panken

Tracklist:

01. Capital J [6:40]
02. Walkin' The Dog [6:10]
03. Lil' Darlin' [5:39]
04. Giant Steps [4:30]
05. I Kissed A Girl [5:43]
06. Samba Delight [5:26]
07. Seven Come Eleven [5:29]
08. Bathed In Light [7:45]
09. Romantic Intermezzo From Bartok's Concerto For Orchestra [8:29]
10. Reverie [3:56]
11. One For Milton [4:07]

Personnel:

Stanley Jordan: guitar, piano (5, 9);
Bucky Pizzarelli: guitar (3, 6);
Mike Stern: guitar (4);
Russell Malone: guitar (6, 11);
Charlie Hunter: guitar (2, 5);
Regina Carter: violin (7, 9);
Kenny Garrett: soprano sax (1, 8);
Ronnie Laws: soprano sax (7);
Nicholas Payton: trumpet (1, 8);
Christian McBride: bass (1, 8);
Charnett Moffett: bass (5, 6, 10);
Kenwood Dennard: drums (1-8, 10, 11)

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Yutaka Shiina: At the Moment (1996)

Given the intensity and quality of the many piano trios throughout jazz history, undertaking another example must make even the most confident pianists a little hesitant. Most pianists safely stick to groups where they can fade into the background from time to time and let a horn player take the spotlight. Yutaka Shiina will have none of that. He places his piano center stage and draws the bass and drums into a taut unity. The trio ripples with rhythmic interactivity and harmonic ideas. The small size of Art Club Strings leaves no space to hide. Customers line up along the curve of the piano or sit on high stools, with a clear view and an unmiked intimacy. Fortunately, none of these pressures seemed to affect Shiina’s playing. If anything, he thrives on the challenge, choosing a well-rounded set of tunes that showcase the many facets of his piano chops and the trio’s cohesion. The opening tune, “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise,” requires a steady-handed tempo. Played too fast, the tune comes out jumpy; too slow, it can be dull. The trio kept the focus perfectly, showing their control and taste. Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz” is one of those tunes that sounds easy, but has notoriously difficult two-against-three rhythms. Again, the trio nailed it, so well that even Shiina, who a year ago never smiled during his live shows, grinned broadly and shouted encouragement during the solos. The last tune of the first set, “Never Let Me Go” evoked the desperation and pleading of the tune’s lyrics with elegance and a particularly lovely solo by Shiina. “Fascinating Rhythm,” the classic knucklebreaker, loosened all three up to a faster tempo that was great fun. Hirose took ever-longer and more intricate drum solos that complemented Shiina and the small club atmosphere perfectly. Shiina also included two of his originals which showed he has steeped himself not only in the history of piano trios but of compositions as well.

Tracklist :
1. Subconsciousness (Yutaka Shiina)
2. Glow Of The Sunset (Yutaka Shiina)
3. Mr. Day (John Coltrane)
4. Nearness Of You (Ned Washington-Hoagy Carmichael)
5. Night At The Maiden Voyage (Yutaka Shiina)
6. I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You (Ned Washington-George Bassman)
7. Fascinating Rhythm (Ira & George Gershwin)
8. Lover (Lorenz Hart-Richard Rodgers)
9. Royal Garden Blues (Spencer & Clarence Williams)
10. Far East Bridge (Yutaka Shiina)
Recorded: New Orleans, Aug 31 & Sep. 1, 1996
Personnel:
Yutaka Shiina (p)
Reginald Veal (b)
Herlin Riley (ds)
Nicholas Payton (tp) (5, 6, 9)
At Moment
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Ray Brown: Some Of My Best Friends Are...The Trumpet Players (2000)

This is the fourth in a series of CDs that has had the great bassist hosting distinguished guests: singers, pianists, and saxophonists. Now it's time for six trumpeters, covering several generations, from the veteran Clark Terry to Nicholas Payton, 26 at the time of recording, but there's no incompatibility between their individual meetings with Brown's smoothly swinging, energetic trio. With pianist Geoff Keezer and new drummer Karriem Riggins, Brown's band at times suggests the Oscar Peterson trio (whose bassist was Brown).

As for the trumpeters, each gets two opportunities with the trio. Clark Terry is puckishly witty on "Itty Bitty Blues" and does a nice job of alternating muted trumpet and flugelhorn on "Clark's Tune." His muffled, personal sound is an effective contrast to generally brassy attacks, but Roy Hargrove, too, shows fitting restraint on his exposition of "Stairway to the Stars." No one's brassier than Jon Faddis, who even plays muted slow blues with unlikely force on "Bags' Groove," then swaggers in his upper register on "Original Jones." Hargrove and Payton acquit themselves admirably on the boppish "Our Delight" and "The Kicker," respectively. Terence Blanchard takes "Getting Sentimental over You" at an unlikely clip, showcasing the trio as well as his own sparkling chops. His concluding "Goodbye" may be the best ballad performance in a good assortment, though Payton's "Violets for Your Furs" is eloquent and moving.

There's a real surprise here in the lesser-known Australian, James Morrison. His brash sound on "I Thought About You" evokes memories of swing-era greats, while Morrison double-times and bounces around the horn with Dizzy-like abandon on Brown's otherwise subdued "When You Go." --Stuart Broomer

Tracklist:

1. Our Delight
2. Bag's Groove
3. I Thought About You
4. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
5. Violets For Your Furs
6. Itty Bitty Blues
7. Stairway To The Stars
8. Original Jones
9. When You Go
10. The Kicker
11. Clark's Tune (Legacy)
12. Goodbye

Personnel: Clark Terry, James Morrison, Jon Faddis, Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, Terence Blanchard (trumpet); Geoff Keezer (piano); Karriem Riggins (drums).

Some of My Best Friends Are the Trumpet Players

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