Jeff "Tain" Watts Megawatts CD

The reissue of this 1991 session -- Jeff "Tain" Watts' debut as a leader -- in 2004 suggested that the age of the neo-bopping "Young Lions" had already passed into history, and some of its artifacts were coming due for historical reappraisal. The mundane side of the story is that this release couldn't get properly distributed under this name in 1991 due to contractual conflicts, and went out under the title Thunder and Rainbows by the so-called band Jazz from Keystone. In any case, this disc's return on the omnivorous Sunnyside label is a welcome event -- mostly because of the strong playing by a trio of former Wynton-ites but also because it serves as a memorial for the late pianist Kenny Kirkland, who died in 1998. Predictably, for a piano trio session under a drummer's name, Kirkland dominates the session, whether flashing his considerable post-bop chops or displaying a Keith Jarrett-like lyrical bent in Jarrett's own "Rainbow." As a straight-ahead and highly musical if stylistically derivative pianist left mostly to his own devices, Kirkland is very impressive; indeed, this CD is one of the best examples of his work. But Watts and bassist Charles Fambrough are not left in the dust; with Kirkland, they continue the formidable team spirit and intense interplay that they developed in the Wynton Marsalis Quintet of the early '80s. They mix it up particularly well in a favorite Watts potboiler from the period, "The Impaler," as well as in the cha cha-driven groove of Fambrough's "Opal Rose," and they give Wayne Shorter's "Black Nile" a skilled post-bop ride. Only one Tin Pan Alley standard here, "You and the Night and the Music," which the threesome polishes off in a fleet straight-ahead rush. This session has truly transcended its time -- and there are new liner notes containing often valuable recollections by Watts and Fambrough. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Recorded at Sear Sound, New York, New York in July 1991. Includes liner notes by Russ Musto.

Personnel: Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums); Kenny Kirkland (piano).

Liner Note Authors: Todd Barkan; Russ Musto.

Recording information: Sear Sound Studio, New York, NY (07/24/1991/07/25/1991); Sear Sound Studios, New York, NY (07/24/1991/07/25/1991).

Photographer: Chris Drukker.

Personnel: Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums); Kenny Kirkland (piano); Charles Fambrough (bass).

Down Beat (p.70) - 4 stars out of 5 - "The late pianist Kenny Kirkland and bassist Charles Fambrough round out the trio, drenched with hard bop grooves and eloquent treatments."