Trios

From the earliest years of jazz, the trio has been a favorite group and even in today’s infinitely more varied jazz scene that popularity remains. Most often, the three instruments in a jazz trio have been piano, bass and drums, but there are numerous exceptions. Among these an especially popular format is the trio that combines piano, guitar and bass. For a spell in the 1950s and 1960s, there were several popular organ, guitar and drums groups (a format that has recently again found favor, this time with a new generation of fans). There have also been groups formed with piano and drums collaborating with a leading horn, most commonly clarinet or saxophone although in the latter case it was the quartet that quickly became the standard. Sometimes, interesting variations in instrumentation of the trio occur and these include line ups such as saxophone, violin and trumpet; vibraphone, guitar and bass; saxophone, guitar and bass; saxophone, bass and drums; guitar, bass and drums. Many examples leap readily to mind and among them are trios led by (alphabetically) Anthony Braxton, Nat King Cole, Bill Evans, Jimmy Giuffre, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Ahmad Jamal, Gene Krupa, Brad Mehldau, Red Norvo, Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Smith, Art Tatum, Tony Williams, Teddy Wilson.

Other suggested names to pursue can be found by logging on to Wikipedia’s look at jazz trios and following the many links.

New CDs by trios of one kind or another appear often and reviews of some of these follow. Also in the mix are several trio CDs that have been around for a little while but which remain very enjoyable. These include trios with ‘orthodox’ instrumentation, while others have interesting variations. The following are just a few examples (not in order of release or preference, but alphabetically):-

Geri Allen Zodiac Suite: Revisited (Mary Records M 104)

Dedicated from one fine pianists to another, this exceptional CD vividly displays the remarkable legacy of Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981) and at the same time makes clear that thanks to Geri Allen that legacy is in safe hands. Accompanied by bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart, Geri Allen constantly brings to mind just how good and advanced was Zodiac Suite, a Mary Lou Williams composition from 1945. Allen treats this masterly work with respect yet never loses its inherent vitality. This music is timeless. In addition to the suite's twelve movements, Allen also plays MLW's Intermission and, with Andrew Cyrille replacing Billy Hart, adds Herbie Nichols' The Bebop Waltz and Allen's own composition, the appropriately titled Thank You Madam. This thoroughly absorbing CD is strongly recommended to all who love good jazz piano playing.

FAB Trio History Of Jazz In Reverse (TUM Records CD 028)

This remarkable trio is decidedly unusual in its instrumental make-up: violin, bass, drums. The group is astonishingly powerful, and while couched in contemporary terms is replete with elements familiar to fans of most jazz styles. The trio’s name is taken from the initial letters of its members' names: the bassist is Joe Fonda, the drummer Barry Altschul, the violinist Billy Bang. All are virtuoso musicians yet have the ability to blend with one another, subordinating their often startling technical skills to the needs of the other group members and to the sound of the trio as a whole. At times, these musicians create a thunderous ensemble sound that suggests far more than just three men and their fluid interplay is testimony to a long association and the depth of their mutual understanding. Brilliant solos, matchless ensembles, this 2005 recording is masterly. Released in late 2011, this CD is one of the last recordings by Billy Bang, who died on 11 April 2011. Thanks to music like this, his name continues to resonate in the world of jazz and the FAB Trio is just that, Fab!.

Mike Greensill Live At The Plush Room (Pismo CD 101)

A fine pianist who has been around for many years, along the way Mike Greensill has built a striking reputation. He first opened ears while still a student at the Leeds College of Music in the north of England. After moving to the USA, Greensill became well known as an accompanist and in particular to singer Wesla Whitfield, to whom he is married. Together, the couple have appeared on more than 15 CDs. Here, though, the pianist is leader of a trio, the other members of which are bassist John Wiitala and drummer Donald Bailey. Throughout, Greensill makes vividly clear that he is an accomplished jazz pianist; and he also proves to be an intriguing singer. In the latter role, he delivers wryly observed versions of songs such as Bob Dorough's I've Got Just About Everything and Small Day Tomorrow. However, it is his work as piano soloist that confirms what those earlier opened ears noticed. Among his many gifts is his always melodic taste, which, underpinned with hard-driving swing, allows him to romp through an excellent live set. This is a fine CD that will be enjoyed by anyone who loves straightahead jazz played by a first-class musician who clearly knows a thing or two about the history of jazz piano.

Also, and briefly, there are new arrivals:-

Nick Moran No Time Like Now (Manor Sound 10661-1)

Here, guitarist Nick Moran teams up with organist Brad Whiteley and drummer Chris Benham for a set that mainly features the leader’s own compositions. The music is filled with emotional nuance and is played with understanding and subtle fire by three musicians of considerable talent. They think individually and collectively and deliver fascinating and grooving performances. (Release date: 6 March 2012)

Romain Collin The Calling (Palmetto PM 2156)

Here, French pianist Romain Collin teams up with bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Kendrick Scott to perform an intriguing set of his own compositions. The music is richly varied, ranging through impressionistic pieces to some that vividly offer aural reflections on moments that have clearly inspired their creator. Collin presents here music that is highly personal and yet accessible to all who hear it.

(Release date: 24 April 2012)

 

Remember to take a look at Jazz Journal’s website. If you are not already a reader, this is where you can subscribe and thus correct that omission. Issue for March 2012 out now:-

Sonny Greer

Drumming Delight

When Duke Ellington’s band was labeled as ‘his Famous Orchestra’ it was, perhaps, an example of early 1930s adman’s exaggeration. As history has shown, this particular piece of hyperbole was undoubtedly justified. Not only has the band remained famous, but many of Ellington’s sidemen of the period have retained their fame long after their deaths. Consider just a few of the names that most jazz fans will instantly recognize and whose careers they followed in and out of Ellington’s bands and in some cases long afterwards: Barney Bigard, Lawrence Brown, Harry Carney, Johnny Hodges, Tricky Sam Nanton, Cootie Williams. But one name that does not come so readily to mind is that of Sonny Greer. This is despite the fact that he was an important member of Ellington’s team from the start. Greer played drums with Ellington’s earlier band, the Washingtonians, recording with this group in 1926 and remaining faithful to the leader for a quarter century.

He was born William Alexander Greer on 13 December, probably in 1895, in Long Branch, New Jersey. It was in his home state that he made his first professional appearances but by 1919 he was playing in Washington, DC. It was there that he first encountered Duke Ellington, a local musician who was to change not only the drummer's life, but the lives of everyone who played in his band over the coming decades. In the early 1920s Greer and Ellington played often together in Washington and in New City. The drummer became one of Ellington's closest acquaintances, and was an integral part of the music the bandleader was creating. A subtle player whose relaxed style sometimes drifted into casualness and poor timekeeping, Greer's style, especially when using brushes, was ideally suited to the band's seemingly effortless swing and he contributed much to the tonal palette that Ellington needed in order to realize his compositions. The timekeeping lapses were underpinned in the early years by guitarist Freddie Guy and a little later on by bassist Jimmy Blanton but Greer played an important part in generating the easy, loping swing that the band generated. Visually, Greer was flamboyant, surrounding himself with a spectacular array of gleaming percussion instruments, including bells, gongs, timpani and xylophone. For all the quantity of instruments, however, Greer's aural contribution was muted; he never thundered, preferring to add color to the Ellington band's sound and to supply a pulse that was felt rather than heard.

Only rarely during the 1930s and 1940s did Greer work outside the aegis of Ellington. Apart from a few small group sessions led by other Ellingtonians, and an appearance on one of Lionel Hampton's famous Victor recording sessions, on which he was again in Ellingtonian company, his career was spent inside the Ellington orchestra. By the end of the 1940s, however, Greer had outstayed the welcome of even Ellington, who tolerated more indiscretions from his sidemen than almost any of his fellow bandleaders of the era. Greer never shook off the smooth-talking, sharp-dressing, hard-drinking persona that had been a part of him from the beginning when he had often kept himself in funds by moonlighting as a pool hustler. Most of that persona was not detrimental to his playing, but the drinking was. Gradually, his on-stage behavior deteriorated towards the end of the 1940s and at the start of the following decade Ellington was forced to hire another drummer to stand by when Greer was unable to take his regular place on the bandstand. This was something that could not last and in early 1951 Ellington was obliged to ask Greer to leave the band.

Thereafter, Greer freelanced, recording with other ex-Ellingtonians, such as Johnny Hodges and Tyree Glenn, and also with contemporaries like Henry 'Red' Allen and J.C. Higginbotham. In the late 1960s and 1970s Greer led his own groups, usually a trio, and he also appeared at concerts celebrating Ellington where he consistently proved that he was never more at ease than when playing his old boss's music. Despite the lifestyle he chose, he lived a long life, eventually dying in New York on 23 March 1982.

In retrospect it is apparent that Greer was just right for Ellington for the era in which he occupied the drum chair. As the years passed other fine drummers came into Ellington's band, but by then, however much familiar music might be played, the style was different. It is aurally apparent that Sam Woodyard was ideal for later Ellington, is similarly clearly the perfect drummer for early Ellington was Sonny Greer. With anyone else, the band would not have sounded the same and if it had not sounded the same then it could not have lived up to its label as ‘famous’. As for that adman’s appellation, it was, after all, a reasonable way in which to describe the greatest jazz orchestra of its own and any other time.

Recommended CD: with Duke Ellington Early Ellington 3CD set (Decca/GRP 063640-2)

Remember to take a look at Jazz Journal’s website. If you are not already a reader, this is where you can subscribe and thus correct that omission.

Sumi Tonooka

Sumi Tonooka Now - Live at the Howland (Artists Recording Collective ARC 2369)
For the past dozen years, Sumi Tonooka has been devoting much of her time to teaching, both privately and at Rutgers and SUNY. She has also been involved with saxophonists Chris Burnett and Erica Lindsay in the founding and development of a recording company, Artists Recording Collective. Then there has been work as a composer, with special concentration on scores for film and television documentaries. Not surprising therefore that Tonooka’s presence on the bandstand has been rather less prominent than it was a few years ago. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she spent time in Boston studying with Margaret Chaloff and Charlie Banacos, then Detroit, where she recorded with Marcus Belgrave, before heading back to her hometown where she worked with Odean Pope, studied with Stanley Cowell, Bernard Peiffer and Dennis Sandole, led her own trio and also worked with Philly Joe Jones for a couple of years. In the early 1980s, Tonooka moved to New York City, playing clubs, festivals, making records, regularly leading her own trio and quartet, working often with leading jazz figures, including Rufus Reid, Akira Tana and John Blake Jr. In the late 1990s, Tonooka moved out of the city to pursue the teaching and composing facets of her busy professional like. Fortunately for all lovers of jazz piano, she has continued to make occasional records, of which Initiation (Artists Recording Collective ARC 2000) is a fine example. This was recorded back in 2004 although not immediately released and is a collaboration with Erica Lindsay (backed by Reid and Bob Braye). The co-leaders separately composed all the music and it provides insight into their distinctive and powerful yet subtle skills.

On 26 June Sumi Tonooka will release a double-album that presents her live in concert at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY, on 22 March 2011. A solo concert, it was recorded and is presented here in its entirety. On the first CD, Tonooka plays music by jazz composers such as Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Mary Lou Williams. Among the pieces are Heaven, which is a lesser-known work by Ellington, Monk’s Evidence and a pleasing medley of Williams’s music including Waltz Boogie and   Dirge Blues. There are also some popular standards, among them Cole Porter’s All Of You and Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer’s I’m Old Fashioned. On the second CD, all the music (except an encore) is composed by Tonooka and from this it is clear that her compositions stand comfortably alongside those of her famous forerunners. Included are Phantom Carousel, Mingus Mood (which is also on Initiation) and At Home. The encore is a jaunty stroll through Eubie Blake’s I’m Confessin’, which wittily looks at piano music of a long-past generation through contemporary eyes. Indeed, that particular performance is an appropriate closer to an exceptional concert as throughout the two discs there flows a strong sense of the melodic undertow that has marked Sumi Tonooka’s work across the past two-and-a-half decades. This is music that is not only melodically captivating, but is also intelligent, warm, and a vivid portrayal of how she has embraced much of what has gone before in the history of jazz piano and is helping to keep it alive and flourishing

Remember to take a look at Jazz Journal’s website. If you are not already a reader, this is where you can subscribe and thus correct that omission.

Jeff Hamilton - Jazz Journal Critics' Poll

Jeff Hamilton Trio Red Sparkle (Capri Records 74114-2)

Hard to accept is the description of Jeff Hamilton as a “veteran” , but that’s how he is described in the press release accompanying an excellent new CD from this master drummer. When he first appeared on the jazz scene back in the mid-1970s, his youthful appearance allied as it was to sprightly playing was a joy to many who feared that subtle, rhythmic and always swinging drumming was fading from the jazz scene. These days, happily, there are many drummers who play like this, and I suppose that it must be acknowledged that Hamilton has rather more gray in his hair than most of the others. But listening to his playing on this CD you would certainly never know it. He is joined here by the regular piano player and bass player of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, and the fluid interplay of these three fine musicians, Hamilton, Tamir Hendelman and Cristoph Luty, makes clear how attuned each is to the others. This musical empathy provides one of the reasons why that particular big band is so good and so popular. But this is trio time, and as the spotlight shifts from one to another it is fascinating to hear how all consistently contribute to the group’s overall well-being. Hendelman is a thoughtful pianist, popular with singers, who need a musician of subtlety and grace. But he is also a soloist of distinction and his always inventive playing is a source of great delight. Luty plays with a solid sense of swing, urging along his companions and finding in his solo moments touches of brilliance, especially apparent when he takes an arco solo on, appropriately enough, a Ray Brown composition. But this is Hamilton’s group, and although throughout he makes clear that this is a joint enterprise, the ears are constantly drawn to his tasteful accompaniment, especially notable in his brush work, and in solos that are crisp and perfectly timed and placed. Red Sparkle, in case you are wondering, was the color of Jeff Hamilton’s first drum kit. Fortunate for all of us, it wasn’t his last.

 

 

Those of you who subscribe to Jazz Journal will have already seen the February 2012 issue wherein are the results of the annual Critic’s Poll. Some thirty reviewers have picked their ten best CDs from 2011 (votes are allowed for five new releases and five reissues). Out of interest, the winners are:
(New Releases) Jan Lundgren -Together Again...At The Jazz Bakery; Bobby Wellins - Time Gentlemen, Please; Michael Garrick - Tone Poems; Tommy Smith - Karma; Mathias Eick - Skala; Lee Konitz/Brad Mehldau/Charlie Haden/Paul Motian - Live At Birdland; Gary Burton - Common Ground; Kurt Elling - The Gate; Exploding Star Orchestra - Stars Have Shapes; Joe Lovano Us Five - Bird Songs

(Reissues) Duke Ellington - 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia, Master; Louis Armstrong - The Ambassador Of Jazz; John Coltrane - Original Album Series; Buck Clayton - Complete Legendary Jam Sessions; Miles Davis - The Bootleg Sessions Vol. 1; Joe Harriott - The Joe Harriott Story; Coleman Hawkins - The High And Mighty Hawk; Charles Mingus - Blues And Roots; Sonny Clark - Sonny’s Conception; Ornette Coleman - Original Album Series

My choices were:

(New Releases) Marcus Shelby - Soul Of The Movement; Warren Vaché/Alan Barnes - London Session; René Marie - Voice Of My Beautiful Country; Karrin Allyson - ’Round Midnight; Alan Barnes/Ken Mathison - Glasgow Suite. (Reissues) Buck Clayton - Complete Legendary Jam Sessions; Duke Ellington - Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia Master Recordings; Jimmy Rushing - Rushing Lullabies + Brubeck And Rushing; Blue Mitchell - Blue’s Moods - Louis Armstrong - Satchmo: Ambassador Of Jazz

For the rest, and they make fascinating reading, you need to see the magazine and if you are not a subscriber then take a look at Jazz Journal’s website where you can correct that omission in your jazz reading.

Dave Tough

Little Giant

During his short and troubled life, Dave Tough consistently proved himself to be a masterful drummer, comfortable in a wide range of settings, willing to confront and overcome stylistic revolutions. He always displayed musical, technical and intellectual gifts, that might well have taken him to the top of any artistic pursuit and served him for a generous lifetime. At times, he seemed to have the ambition for this; but he also had disturbing flaws that not only circumscribed his career but also tragically shortened his life.

He was born, David Jarvis Tough, on 26 April 1907, in Oak Park, Illinois. He first played drums while a small child and he was still a Chicago schoolboy when he became a member of the Austin High School Gang. This was a loose gathering of white tyro jazzmen who were fascinated with and deeply influenced by black jazz musicians whose playing set alight the clubs and speakeasies of 1920s Chicago. The Gang formulated what became known as Chicago style jazz and Dave, who early mastered the art of playing subtle and infectiously swinging drums, was a significant member of the group. In that same decade, he visited Europe and also spent time in New York City where he made records under the nominal leadership of other members of the Chicago school, notably Eddie Condon and Red Nichols.

He began the 1930s inauspiciously, spending many months inactive through illness, a portent of the future. Tiny and frail, he was repeatedly struck by illnesses that more robust individuals might have shrugged off; and he gave himself no help by drinking heavily. By 1935, however, he was ready to make a mark in a different area of jazz. Until now, the bulk of his work had been in small groups, but the big bands that would dominate the forthcoming swing era were now on the rise. He played first with Tommy Dorsey, then moved swiftly and often fleetingly through many bands: Red Norvo, Bunny Berigan, Benny Goodman, back to Tommy Dorsey, then Jimmy Dorsey, Bud Freeman, Jack Teagarden, Artie Shaw, and others, including depping with Woody Herman.
There were several reasons for his restlessness. Dave insisted on musical perfection: while this was a characteristic shared by some of the leaders for whom he played, it was ignored by others. Added to personal differences, he had an intense dislike for the characterless music demanded by the realities of commercial success that were a sometimes onerous feature of life in the swing era. And there was his own occasionally unstable personality, a characteristic aggravated by his drinking, which was now sometimes excessive. In his private life, he flouted the racial taboos of the time by marrying a black dancer. He also found himself often at odds with former musical associates, and sought to establish an alternative career as a writer. He was briefly inducted into the military during World War 2, playing for a short while in the US Navy band directed by Artie Shaw, but was soon discharged on medical grounds.

It was shortly after his discharge that Dave made his greatest impact on the jazz world when he joined Woody Herman. As the records of Herman's First Herd were played around the world, fans of big band jazz became aware that for all his physical frailty, tiny Dave Tough was a powerful giant among drummers. Yet, despite his undoubted playing skills, Dave had serious doubts about his suitability for bop. His drinking habit had by now became uncontrollable. Observers at the time remarked upon the combination of his discomfort with his role in the changing jazz scene and a deterioration in his physical and mental state, and how it led inexorably to fits. Sometimes, and deeply disturbing to fellow musicians and audiences alike, these fits occurred on the bandstand.
Many of the people who knew him, did their best to help him; not just musician friends but also the writer Leonard Feather and impresario John Hammond Jnr. But Dave would not be helped; portents of disaster had shadowed his entire professional life, and finally they came to pass. Exactly what happened one winter night can never be known. He appears to have fallen in the street while walking home from a gig. Maybe he had another fit; perhaps he was drunk; or he might simply have slipped or stumbled in the dark. Whatever the cause, he fell, fractured his skull, and died from the injury on 9 December 1948 in Newark, New Jersey. His body lay unclaimed, indeed unrecognized, in the morgue for three days.

Whether playing in the small Chicago-style groups of which he was a charter member, or in any of the big bands to which he brought uncommon fluidity, he consistently demonstrated his subtle talents. It was with Woody Herman, however, that Dave Tough reached the apogee of his brief but shining career. In that band he exceeded even his own high standards, urging along one of the finest of the period's jazz orchestras with sizzling enthusiasm, flair and irresistible swing that was rarely equaled and almost never surpassed.

Recommended CDs (all with Woody Herman): The Complete Woody Herman (1945-7) 7-CD boxed set (Mosaic 223); The Woody Herman Story 4-CD boxed set (Properbox 15); The Thundering Herd: Original Recordings 1945-1947 (Naxos Jazz Legends 8.120739); The V-Disc Years (Hep CD2/3435 2)

For more about this remarkable musician, go to Drummerworld where among many things there are several excellent photographs.

 

Daryl Sherman - Jane Stuart

Daryl Sherman Mississippi Belle (Audiophile ACD 342)

One of the most entertaining of musicians, Daryl Sherman has a fully deserved worldwide reputation as a fine jazz pianist and singer. On this, her latest CD (released late December 2011), she delves into a trove of music with which she is wonderfully familiar, the songs of Cole Porter. For many years, Daryl has played and sung regularly at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; what’s more, she has done so seated at the piano Cole Porter had in his suite when he stayed there, a Steinway given to him by the hotel. This CD is subtitled ‘Cole Porter in the Quarter’, that being, of course, the French Quarter of New Orleans, which is not only home to Audiophile Records but also where Daryl has often chosen to perform, particularly after Hurricane Katrina. Among the songs Daryl sings here are the familiar, which include Let’s Do It, Rosalie, Get Out Of Town, You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To and From This Moment On, and some that are less so, including Ours, Tale Of The Oyster, Use You Imagination and Looking At You. To her interpretations of all the songs, Daryl brings her unmistakable charm and wit, cloaking everything in her superb musicianship. Daryl’s instrumental collaborators here are clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Tom Fischer and bassist Jesse Boyd. The always admirable New Orleans-based singer, Banu Gibson, joins Daryl for By The Mississinewah. This is lovely stuff, a CD that will have very wide appeal.

Jane Stuart Don’t Look Back (Jane Stuart Music JSM 002)

Jane Stuart’s debut CD was 2007’s Beginning To See The Light, which won the Blue Chip Award for “Best Jazz Vocals” from the International Association of Jazz Educators. By now very much appreciated for her live performances, sometimes solo and sometimes as leader of her band, Airtight, in the New York and New Jersey area, Jane has built upon her very good start in the tough world of jazz singing and her new CD shows just how far she has come. This is a mature and confident performance, and her repertoire shows the breadth of her musical appreciation; among the songs here are Cole Porter’s Experiment, Dave Frishberg’s Wheelers And Dealers and You Are There (co-composed by Johnny Mandel), Lennon and McCartney’s Eleanor Rigby and I’ll Follow The Sun, Rodgers and Hart’s I Didn’t Know What Time It Was and an especially attractive version of the Gershwin classic, Summertime. Jane’s accompanists are pianist Rave Tesar, tenor saxophonist Frank Elmo, bassists Kermit Driscoll and Sue Williams share tracks and drummer Rick De Kovessey (who is her husband). Also on hand are percussionist Emedin Rivera and background vocalists Orlando Quinones and Paige Sandusky. There are also guests in the very welcome form of guitarist Dave Stryker and saxophonist Dick Oatts. This is a singer who deserves your attention.

Bill Berry

Hot ‘n’ Happy

One of the outstanding big bands of the 1970s, Bill Berry’s LA Band was rich in talented soloists, powerful in execution, and dedicated in its approach. Sadly, it was barely recorded although many off-air and private recordings exist and I count myself lucky in having several of these. Officially, only two albums were released, Hello Rev (Concord Jazz CJ CCD 4023) and the almost impossible to find vinyl, Hot 'n' Happy (Beez 1), the latter on Bill Berry’s own label. The CD incarnation of Hello Rev is therefore a ‘must have’ for all lovers of big band jazz at its fiery best. Soloists include Blue Mitchell, Cat Anderson, Jack Sheldon, Jimmy Cleveland, Tricky Lofton, Richie Kamuca, Marshal Royal and Dave Frishberg. This album almost matches the awesome experience of hearing the band live.

I heard the band live just once, at Carmelo’s, a Los Angeles jazz club. That night, the band included Sheldon, Cleveland, Kamuca and Frishberg, as well as Pete and Conte Candoli, Bob Efford, Jack Nimitz, Monty Budwig and Frank Capp among a truly star-studded personnel. If only more of my memories were made of evenings like this.
Bill Berry also led small groups and they have fared a little better in the CD age. Of these Shortcake (Concord Jazz CJ CCD 4075) also abounds in distinguished soloists, including Marshal Royal, Lew Tabackin, Bill Watrous and Dave Frishberg and additionally is marked by ingenious and witty charts. In the 1990s, Bill Berry and his wife Betty organized the Pacific Jazz Party, a richly rewarding trans-oceanic collaboration between musicians from America and Japan. The fine mainstream set, Jazz Party (Jazz Cook JCCD 1003) is one result of this meeting of musical minds. Cornetist Bill co-leads with his counterpart, clarinetist Eiji Kitamura, and they are joined by tenor saxophonist Sam Sadigursky and a pulsating rhythm section that draws from both countries: pianist Kotaro Tsukahara and the veteran bass and drums team of Ray Brown and Jake Hanna. Then there is Live at Capozzoli’s (Woofy WPCD 54), which was recorded during a late 1990s Las Vegas club date. The uncommon front line of Bill’s cornet and Jack Nimitz’s baritone saxophone lend interesting textures to a nice selection of numbers, most of which are standards.

Bill Berry's death, in November 2002, brought to an end a personal friendship that existed between us since the late 1970s. I miss Bill but count myself lucky to have known him and to have heard him play many times live, with various small bands and that never-to-be-forgotten occasion with his mighty big band. At least, we still have the records, all of which exemplify something Bill once observed: “You can be 100% serious about music, and still have fun.”