Piano Trio – Page 6 – musicophilesblog – From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms

Bill Evans’ Heritage At Its Best – Enrico Pieranunzi’s Deep Down

Enrico Pieranunzi

When starting this post I was trying to find a good reason why I didn’t mention the brilliant Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi in my 25 Essential Jazz albums. Actually, I couldn’t really find one.

Probably the only one that comes to mind that out of the enormous recording legacy that Pieranunzi has done over the years (and he’s still recording) it is really hard to pick a winner, there are so many good albums in his discography.

Obviously, Bill Evans influenced many contemporary pianists. However, his influence is audible even more with Pieranunzi. He certainly doesn’t make a secret out of it, he’s even written a book about Bill Evans, and on the 1986 recording below and many others, he’s even taken on Marc Johnson, the bassist of Evans last trio (see his brilliant playing on Consecration).

That said, don’t think that Pieranunzi is merely a Evans clone, far from that, he is one of the most extraordinary piano players of our times for me.

Deep Down

This 1986 album is an excellent example of what I like about Pieranunzi. You get beautiful ballads (We’ll Be Together Again or Atigny), swinging melodies (Dee Song), and one of my most loved standards (Someday My Prince Will Come) in a beautiful, very individual version.

Overall, Pieranunzi will never only record standards, he’ll always contribute his own compositions (4 of the 9 album tracks, with Marc Johnson contributing another original).

My rating: 5 stars (yes I know, again 5 stars, but rest assured, my blog so far just has a very heavy bias to the stuff I really like, it is really not that I’ll fork out 5 stars at every corner).

I strongly suggest you don’t limit yourself in the exploration of Pieranunzi to this album, there is so much more to discover. For example, I’d recommend you get this full 6CD box at Amazon, which includes 5 other albums from his earlier period, all good to excellent.

You can also just download the individual album here (Qobuz).

Esbjörn Svensson Trio Live In Hamburg

I’ve received quite a bit of feedback on my posts on my 25 essential Jazz albums. Many of them were asking why artist X, Y or Z wasn’t listed. Most of these had a point.

The Esbjörn Svensson Trio

One example is the Esbjörn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.). Why didn’t I list it? if we do a brief history of (no, not time, come on guys, I’m not Stephen Hawking) the Jazz Piano Trio, from its early starts in the 1950s with the like of Art Tatum, Errol Garner, and Oscar Peterson, I see three major steps in the development:

Bill Evans took this art form to a much higher intellectual level, and made sure all 3 musician are true partners. Keith Jarrett took over when Bill unfortunately left us and dominated the art for for twenty years, until a bunch of Scandinavians around Esbjörn Svensson came, and brought this art form to the 21st century, and introducing it to audiences way beyond the traditional Jazz audience, as there is a lot of rock and electronic influence.

So why the heck haven’t I reviewed any album of this trio yet (although to be fair I mention it regularly)? The answer is easy, e..t. is a bit too much out of the box for me on most of their albums (I’m a guy who’s extremely comfortable IN the box!). There’s usually some “craziness” going on, and quite often just a bit too much for my personal taste. That said, I fully recognize their importance. Unfortunately we lost an outstanding musician when Esbjörn died in a diving accident in 2008.

Live in Hamburg

This 2007 live album (released on ACT) from a late 2006 concert (in Hamburg obviously) is just outstanding, and shows e.s.t. at their peak.

There is still some craziness ongoing (e.g. Definition of A Dog), but overall it is tame enough for my ears to really enjoy it,. And then, there is just tons of energy, including outstanding 17:39 minute long tracks like Dolores In A Shoestand. There is not a minute of boredom. This is two hours of pure adrenaline!

My rating: 5 stars

You can get it here (Qobuz), or go for the high quality 4 vinyl edition

Oscar Peterson Plays the Cole Porter Songbook

Oscar Peterson is one of the Gods of the jazz piano universe, playing and recording for over 60 years. This modest Canadian was discovered by the famous producer Norman Granz. Thanks for that, Norman!

Peterson has played with so many great artists. The world-famous Ella and Louis albums wouldn’t be the same without him! Obviously you could fill at least 10 blog posts with him and his enormous discography (maybe I should start that at some point, let’s see).

I’ve already listed Oscar Peterson in my 25 Essential Jazz Albums. There I mentioned his MPS sessions in the late 1960s, where he plays with several different bass players and drummers.

However, his best known trio formation is probably the classical setting with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen. This is classical swinging piano trio, which really lives from the pianistic brilliance of Peterson with the enormous swing of Brown.

There are many nice albums from the late 1950s to the early 1960s on Verve (Night Train, West Side Story, the slightly overplayed We Get Requests), and obviously the sister albums from the “Songbook” series.

This in any case is one my favorites, and I recently purchased it again as a new remaster:

Oscar Peterson Plays The Cole Porter Song Book

I already love the cover art, which is very unlike most of his other albums of the period (but repeated on other “Song Book” albums). Unfortunately, the recent download I purchased of this doesn’t come with any booklet, and the original CD I ripped is buried somewhere in my basement, so I wasn’t able to find out who did this, if somebody could point me to a source.

Then there is the music. Cole Porter was obviously a genius of songwriting. It’s amazing how a guy who mainly wrote musicals could influence Jazz so much. Certainly the same didn’t happen with today’s musicals, or how many Andrew Lloyd Webber jazz standard are you aware off (probably better this way)

I know many jazz aficionados get bored by standards. I don’t. I just love when you recognize a tune, and then see what the musicians do with it. Call me simple-minded. I’ve Got You Under My Skin, In The Still Of The Night, Love For Sale, Just One Of Those Things, I Love Paris, It’s De-Lovely, etc. etc. One more beautiful than the other. If you’re into avantgarde jazz, look elsewhere. This is as mainstream as it gets. But who cares? It is immensely enjoyable.

My rating: 4 stars

You can download it here (Qobuz), and here (HDtracks)

A Gorgeous Italo-Scandinavian Trio – Stefano Bollani’s Stone In the Water

You’ll probably have noticed by now my obsession with piano trios in Jazz.

The piano trio form in Jazz clearly comes from the US. I’ve already written about the 3 giants, Keith Jarrett, see here and here, Oscar Peterson, see here, and the obvious Bill Evans (see here).

However, these days many of my favorite trios seem to be European.

Three hotspots emerge:

Germany: I’ve written about Triosence (see here), Edgar Knecht (see here), and Michael Wollny (see here), more to come

Scandinavia: The obvious Esbjörn Svensson Trio, but also Helge Lien (see here) and several others I yet have to write about

And finally, Italy: Giovanni Mirabassi (see here) (although he mainly lives in Paris now), and the Alboran Trio (see here) have both been mentioned in my 25 Essential Jazz albums. A reminder to self: I absolutely need to write about the brilliant Enrico Pieranunzi

I just listened to the album below recently again, and felt the urge to write about a very nice mixture of Scandinavia and Italy here.

Stefano Bollani

Bollani enrolled at the local conservatory in Florence to learn the piano at the tender age of 11. He played quite a lot with Enrico Rava, an excellent Italian trumpet player. He also has recorded quite a bit with other big names in Jazz as well.

Bollani even released a recording of Gershwin’s piano concerto with Riccardo Chailly and the Gewandhaus, no less (on Decca). The latter by the way is an interesting version, he takes quite some liberties on this album, but it is certainly well worth hearing. His recent duo with Chick Corea on ECM (Orvieto) is also worth checking out.

Stone In The Water (2009)

My favorite Bollani recording is this Italo-Scandinavian trio recording from 2009, released on ECM, where he plays with the Danes Jesper Bodilsen and Morten Lund. These two also play on his very nice 2014 release Joy In Spite of Everything (also ECM), where they are joined by Bill Frisell and Mark Turner

Stone In the Water starts very strong with Dom De Iludir, a soft, melancholic ballad, and overall this album remains in the typical ECM “house sound” of what I would describe as “delicate and nuanced”. I also very much appreciate the occasional Brazilian influences in already the first track (written by a Brazilian), but also Brigas Nunca Mais.

The interplay between the three musicians is very fine, they really listen to each other. I cannot find a single track on this album I don’t like.

In summary, sometimes, less is more.

Overall rating: 4 stars

As usual with ECM, the recording quality is outstanding.

You can download it here (Qobuz) or here (GubeMusic).

Musicophile’s 25 Essential Jazz Albums – Part II

Following up to part I of my 25 Essential Jazz albums, here are the entries 13-25. Again no ranking implied in the numbers, this is just a list of albums I think everybody should have heard, and to give you a good understanding of what it is I really like in Jazz.

13. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers – Moanin (1958)

Well, my entire mini-series on the Jazz Messengers’s spin-offs wouldn’t have been a series without this group. I’m not sure why I haven’t written about this album yet, but I eventually will.

14: Ella Fitzgerald – Clap Hands – Here Comes Charlie (1961)

Ella again is somebody with so many good albums to choose from. Just to give an example, the Ella and Louis series has been recommended everywhere, and I concur. The live recording Mack the Knife or her many songbook releases are also excellent.

So why this one? Well, purely subjectively again, it was one of my first I ever owned, and it’s got the outstanding 5 star track Cry Me A River.

15. Wayne Shorter: Adam’s Apple (1966)

Already reviewed here.

16. Duke Ellington: Money Jungle (1963)

Duke Ellington obviously had a huge influence on Jazz, also as a composer of many standards. I’m not really into big band, but luckily he also did some albums with smaller crews, like the famous Duke Ellington & John Coltrane album, or this one, with Charles Mingus and Max Roach. I mean, what could go wrong if you combine these giants? This by the way has the best version ever of the great standard Caravan.

17. Stan Getz and Kenny Baron – People Time (1992)

This is another example of a large box of “last concerts” recordings similar to the Bill Evans Consecration I wrote about in Part I of this post. This concert was recorded in Copenhagen very close to Stan Getz too early death.

Often duos in Jazz lack something, not here. This one is just beautiful, and a pleasure to listen to. If you don’t want to go for the full 6 box Complete Recordings, there’s also a 2 box compilation.

18. Oliver Nelson: The Blues And The Abstract Truth (1961)

Oliver Nelson in a way is the One Hit Wonder of jazz. Or could you name any other album from him (with the possible exception of less known and less interesting part II follow-up with a different cast)?

In any case, just look at the line-up here, Evans!, Chambers!, Hubbard!, Haynes!, Dolphy! and you know you’re onto something. One of my favorite Impulse albums.

19. Oscar Peterson: Exclusively For My Friends (1968)

You could nominate many Oscar Peterson albums here. He is really one of the best pianists of all times. However, this set recorded in the cosy Black Forest in the personal studio of Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer, is probably one of the best, and most intimate. This album has recently been remastered from the original tapes.

20. Ray Brown: Summer Wind – Life At The Loa

You cannot talk about Oscar Peterson without mentioning Ray Brown, his legendary bassist. Ray has recorded several outstanding albums with the combo of Jeff Hamilton on drums and Gene Harris on the piano. To quote one of the tracks: It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing. Well, this one’s got plenty.

21. Diana Krall: The Girl In The Other Room

Talking about Jeff Hamilton, he also plays on this one.

But now you may ask me: what, 25 albums, only 3 vocal jazz among them, and you chose Krall vs. all the other alternatives? Well yes, you could argue about the choice of Krall in general, but not this album. This to me is the best she ever did, by far. The influence of her husband, Elvis Costello, on the songs is clearly there, and this is the first time in my opinion that she truly moves beyond the (very high-class) cocktail bar jazz of her previous albums. Unfortunately, she’s never again reached this level of musical depth since (I personally didn’t like her last two albums, Wallflower and Glad Rag Doll).

22. Grant Green – Idle Moments (1965)

I’m usually not a big fan of guitar jazz, but the nearly 15 minutes of the title track of this album with so many outstanding musicians, including Joe Henderson (see my post on him here) justifies the including here. I guarantee there’s not one minute of boredom in this slowly developing and evolving track.

23. Michael Wollny Trio – Weltentraum (2014)

OK, so ECM, the great German jazz label, got their share of albums here. Let’s make sure we add another great German jazz label, ACT.

Michael Wollny is one of the great German talents of today, and both the 2014 album Weltentraum as well as this live version are creative, inspired, and fun to listen to.

24. Alboran Trio – Near Gale (2008)

Another ACT album. The Italian Alboran Trio seems to have completely disappeared since this 2008 album, and it’s equally great predecessor, Meltemi (2006). What a pity, this is again to me the epitome of a piano trio album.

25. Keith Jarrett: Solo Concerts Bremen-Lausanne (1973)

Yes, I’m cheating. I said in my own rules only one album per artist.

Well, but first of all I make the rules on my own blog, and then this blog has Keith Jarrett in the subtitle. I couldn’t walk away from this without a Jarrett Solo Concerto, given that this was the topic of my very first blog that started this entire adventure entry here.

I could have chosen the Köln Concert, and yes that is a must have for everybody. But so are the Sun Bear Concerts, Bremen Lausanne, The Carnegie Hall Concert or pretty much any other of his solo albums for that matter.

I still have the original vinyl of the excellent Bremen Lausanne, and it is basically just a placeholder for his entire solo works. If I have enough time, I’ll try eventually to review in detail all Keith Jarrett solo concerts.

So, that’s it folks, looking forward to your feedback!

Download sources:

Moanin: here (Qobuz)

Here comes Charlie: here (Qobuz)

People Time: here (Qobuz)

Oliver Nelson: here (Qobuz)

Oscar Peterson: here (Highresaudio)

Ray Brown: here (HDTracks)

Diana Krall: here (Qobuz)

Chick Corea: here (Qobuz)

Bremen-Lausanne: here (Qobuz)

Michael Wollny: here (Qobuz)

Alboran Trio: here (Qobuz)

Musicophile’s 25 Essential Jazz Albums – Part I

To be fair, I could never live with only 25 albums, I’d be totally bored at some point. There is too much great music out there to discover, that’s why I’m purchasing a lot of new music every month.

But if I had to choose my personal favorite 25 Jazz artists and list one of their albums (didn’t go for top 10 as this would have really been TOO narrow), I’d go for these. I wouldn’t call this a “must have” list, this is obviously completely subjective, as all of the rest of my blog. But you wouldn’t go wrong in checking them out and see if you like them. There are some obvious candidates in there that you’ll find in every TopXX list out there (I checked many, to make sure I don’t miss anything), some hopefully less obvious personal choices as well. They range from 1958 to 2013.

By the way, I’m cheating a bit, I’m talking about 25 albums, not CDs, so you’ll find a couple of multi-CD albums in there. In the age of the digital download, it doesn’t make any difference anyhow.

The ordering is completely random, I just numbered them so I don’t lose track. As said before, I try to limit to one album per artists, as you could easily build a list of top 25 albums with Keith Jarrett or Bill Evans on their own (maybe this will come in a future post).

This is part I, with no. 1-12, part II can be found here.

1. Keith Jarrett – At The Blue Note (1995)

Well, obviously my selection had to have a Keith Jarrett album. As I wanted to choose only one per artist, I’m really under pressure here. With so many good Jarrett trio albums out there, which one do you choose? This choice is a bit arbitrary, and could change tomorrow, but I find myself to go back to this album very very often. However, it could have been easily as well Standards Live, Standards in Norway, Whisper Not, or Inside Out.

This album is mastered by the same Jan Erik Kongshaug, that also is responsible for Badgers and other Beings by Helge Lien (see my review here) and many other audiophile treasures.

2. Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue (1959)

Sorry, BIG no brainer alarm here. But this is just so freakingly good (thanks probably mainly to Bill Evans), that no matter how often you listen, you just get drawn into the atmosphere over and over again.

Plus, the recent 24/192 remaster (available in mono or stereo, I personally prefer the stereo version) sounds so great that you think you’re sitting in the studio with the guys.

3. Giovanni Mirabassi – Architectures (1998)

Giovanni Mirabassi Architectures

I haven’t written about Mirabassi on my blog yet. What a shame. Will rectify that soon. In the meantime, this is trio jazz at its best (a guitar is added in some songs).

Mirabassi is still one of my favorite musicians, especially live, however, I still prefer his earlier albums to the more recent ones. Again, more to come.

4. Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder (1963)

Already reviewed here. Another mega-seller, but nothing wrong with that.

5. Bill Evans – Consecration – The Final Recordings Part 2 (1980)

Bill Evans, another genius, and I haven’t even mentioned him on this blog yet (except for above in the Kind of Blue entry). What a sin. Again, plenty of outstanding albums to choose from. Which trio? LaFaro and Motian, Gomez and Morell, or Johnson and LaBarbera? Well, all are great, so hard to judge. I nevertheless have a particularly strong relationship to this album, as a 1 CD compilation of this last concert series of his was among my first even Bill Evans albums.

Is it really necessary to purchase this 8CD box? And to e.g. get 5 different versions of “Your Story” (the album has takes from different days, so quite some repeats in the playlist). And it get’s even worse, “The Last Waltz” is another 8CD box from the same setting. Well, maybe not universally. And there is obviously the great tragedy of knowing that shortly after these concerts this genius was finally killed by his drug habits.

But when you listen to these recordings, there is so much intimacy, so much creativity, so much melancholy, that you can’t help but be fully absorbed by the music.

Anyway, more to come on Bill Evans on my blog in the future.

6. Horace Silver: Song For My Father (1964)

Already reviewed here.

7. Brad Mehldau: The Art Of The Trio Vol. 3 (1998)

I’m not a universal fan of Brad Mehldau, there are a lot of albums I just cannot stand at all (e.g. Largo), but this one is trio jazz at it’s best.

8. Nina Simone: Little Girl Blue or “Jazz As Played In An Exclusive Side Street Club” (1958)

Her outstanding debut, with many amazing songs.

9. Triosence: Turning points (2013)

Already reviewed here

10. Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage (1965)

My favorite Hancock album for the famous title track and Dolphin Dance.

11. John Coltrane – My Favorite Things (1961)

Well, obviously Coltrane had to be there. I hesitated quite a bit if I should nominate A Love Supreme or Giant Steps, but somehow this album personally touches me even more, both for the title track and one of my favorite versions of Summertime.

12. Shai Maestro – Shai Maestro Trio (2011)

Already reviewed here.

As said before, Part II with nos. 13-25 can be found here.

Download Sources

Keith Jarrett At The Blue Note: here (Qobuz) and here

Kind of Blue: Here (Qobuz) and here (HDTracks)

Architectures: unfortunately, hard to find as download. You will occasionally find the CD on Amazon

Consecration: here (Qobuz)

Sidewinder: here (Qobuz)

Brad Mehldau Songs: here (Qobuz)

Song for My Father: here (Qobuz)

Nina Simone: here (Eclassical)

Triosence: here (Qobuz)

Maiden Voyage: here (Qobuz)

My Favorite Things: here (HDTracks)

Shai Maestro: here (Highresaudio)

Helge Lien’s Badgers and Other Beings – A Scandinavian Trio to Watch

Last week I wrote about Triosence, who recorded their latest album in Norway, at Jan Erik Kongshaug’s legendary Rainbow Studios. The album below is recorded at the same studio, however, unlike the German trio above, they didn’t have a long trip to get there, as they are from Norway.

Helge Lien, before getting relatively well-known with his own trio, was playing with singers like Silje Neergard.

Since 2008 the Helge Lien Trio (with Frode Berg on bass and Per Oddvar Johansen on drums) has released three albums, approximately every three years, Hello Troll (2008), Natsukashii (2011), and Badgers and Other Beings in 2014, all on the excellent Ozella Music label (see also my review of Edgar Knecht from the same label). For the audiophiles among my readers, all are available as high-res downloads and worth it. Note that this is the first time Johansen joins the trio, replacing Knut Aalefjær (who get’s a dedication in the song Knut).

Badgers and Other Beings

I could have chosen to review here any of the three, when I checked my iTunes ratings, all have the same mix of four star tracks with 3-4 five stars on each, and I wouldn’t want to miss any of them in my collection. So let me just take the latest release, which has been in pretty heavy on my system since I bought it just after it came out.

All tracks on this album, as usual with Lien, are his originals, no standards here. Already the starter track is very beautiful, Mor (apparently meaning mother in Norvegian).

The example above shows everything I like about this album, beautiful, complex melodies, and an interaction between the musicians that shows that they’ve been together for a long time and can follow each other blindly, and this in spite of the fact that Johansen is a new addition to the trio.

The following Joe is more uptempo, but keeps the same mood, and is another one of my five star tracks. My other two favorites are The New Black and the final track, Badgers Lullaby, where Johanssen on drums gets featured more prominently, and where time truly stands still, while fully drawing you into this very particular Nordic world.

My rating: 4 stars (but pretty borderline to five, I’m still hesitating whether I should start giving 4.5 stars at some point).

You can download it here (Highresaudio.com) and here (Qobuz) in 24/192 resolution, and at Bandcamp you’ll get a cheaper regular CD resolution download and you can even purchase a limited edition vinyl edition.

Deep Down

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The Esbjörn Svensson Trio

Live in Hamburg

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Oscar Peterson Plays The Cole Porter Song Book

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Stefano Bollani

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13. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers – Moanin (1958)

14: Ella Fitzgerald – Clap Hands – Here Comes Charlie (1961)

15. Wayne Shorter: Adam’s Apple (1966)

16. Duke Ellington: Money Jungle (1963)

17. Stan Getz and Kenny Baron – People Time (1992)

18. Oliver Nelson: The Blues And The Abstract Truth (1961)

19. Oscar Peterson: Exclusively For My Friends (1968)

20. Ray Brown: Summer Wind – Life At The Loa

21. Diana Krall: The Girl In The Other Room

22. Grant Green – Idle Moments (1965)

23. Michael Wollny Trio – Weltentraum (2014)

24. Alboran Trio – Near Gale (2008)

25. Keith Jarrett: Solo Concerts Bremen-Lausanne (1973)

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1. Keith Jarrett – At The Blue Note (1995)

2. Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue (1959)

3. Giovanni Mirabassi – Architectures (1998)

4. Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder (1963)

5. Bill Evans – Consecration – The Final Recordings Part 2 (1980)

6. Horace Silver: Song For My Father (1964)

7. Brad Mehldau: The Art Of The Trio Vol. 3 (1998)

8. Nina Simone: Little Girl Blue or “Jazz As Played In An Exclusive Side Street Club” (1958)

9. Triosence: Turning points (2013)

10. Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage (1965)

11. John Coltrane – My Favorite Things (1961)

12. Shai Maestro – Shai Maestro Trio (2011)

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Badgers and Other Beings

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