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New Orleans-based jazz musician and crooner Harry Connick, Jr. has suffered a fair degree of criticism from jazz aficionados for his commercially oriented vocal outings. Borrowing a great deal from the style of Frank Sinatra, Connick's vocal ... Full Descriptionalbums are well crafted and listenable, if not always adventurous. Those critics will have cause to button their lips, however, because Connick has released OCCASION: CONNICK ON PIANO, VOL. 2 (the follow-up to 2003's OTHER HOURS: CONNICK ON PIANO, VOL. 1), a dazzling instrumental outing that emphasizes the artist's improvisational chops.
To make matters even better, Connick has collaborated here with fellow New Orleans native and saxophonist extraordinaire Branford Marsalis. One of the finest horn players of his generation, Marsalis has a bold tone, broad range, and an admirably adventurous approach to the tenor and soprano sax. Marsalis contributes two tunes here, the lightly swinging title track and "Steve Lacy," a lovely, plaintive tribute to the great soprano saxophonist. The rest of the compositions are by Connick, and reveal his too-often-overlooked technical expertise and keen ear for melody. The rapport between the two is intelligent, sensitive, and never less than engaging, making OCCASION one of the best offerings in Connick's discography.
Personnel: Harry Connick Jr. (piano); Branford Marsalis (saxophone).
Recording information: Hayti Heritage Center, Durham, NC (03/2005).
Down Beat (p.86) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[I]t has significant entertainment value since both musicians are engaging instrumental conversationalists."
JazzTimes (p.63) - "Simultaneously cerebral and playful, and with hands chock full of inventiveness, Connick uses this release to explore space and harmony with a wonderfully sympathetic partner..." Hide Description Harry Connick, Jr Occasion Songs Purchase Occasion CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Harry Connick, Jr Only You CD (2003)
Occasion album
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In the liner notes of ONLY YOU, crooner Harry Connick tells how the impetus for the album was Columbia honcho Donny Ienner's request for the singer to record some songs from Ienner's youth (1950s/'60s hits). Whether this was an entreaty or an ultimatum, Connick sagely turned it to his advantage, inching up a decade or two from his usual selection process and cherry-picking some of the finest tunes from that era (even if a couple were originally written decades earlier). Connick breaks some new stylistic ground too, dipping into the country songbook ("You Don't Know Me") and even slipping into doo-wop territory ("I Only Have Eyes for You" and the title track").
The most impressive thing about ONLY YOU is that instead of twisting himself into a stylistic pretzel in order to accommodate these varied modes, Connick artfully reinvents these tunes (not only as vocalist, but as arranger/conductor) to suit his own Sinatra-influenced pop/jazz style. His treatment of the aforementioned "I Only Have Eyes for You," for example, brings out the inherent spectral qualities of the song, turning it into an ethereal tour de force for his moody arrangement and cool vocal. Throughout the album, Connick ...
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Since his early days with Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter has continually pushed the envelope. On this live quartet outing, Shorter continues on his quest for musical innovation: All eight tracks on BEYOND THE SOUND BARRIER are exciting, spontaneous, and lively. Further, the taut ensemble plays well off of each other as they ebb and flow, build, climax, and dissipate. This album contains no jazz standards or common song forms. It also avoids round-robin improvisations. In fact, there are really no individual solos heard here. On each tune, the group plays off of each other in a kind of "group solo." Also, most of this music is rubato or without tempo. Highlights include Shorter's abstract reworking of Felix Mendelssohn's "On Wings of Song," which juxtaposes a beautiful melody over a dissonant, chatty rhythm section. "Over Shadow Hill Way" slowly moves from a soft ballad to an ...
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This live set finds jazz ambassador Wynton Marsalis doing what he does best--that is, playing straightforward, bop-inflected jazz with flawless technique. Marsalis pays homage to the masters with versions of Thelonious Monk's "Green Chimneys" and Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee," and offers a lilting, smoky reading of the standard "You Don't Know What Love Is."
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On paper it seems as if such titanic and distinctive musical personalities as Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane might not mix very well, but this stellar set, recorded live at Carnegie Hall in 1957, plays almost like a blissful extended duet between the two (with support from a sensitive yet hard-swinging bassist and drummer). The opener, "Monk's Mood," for example, features the composer/pianist's typically brilliant, idiosyncratic playing, while Coltrane floats over the top in the most lyrical of modes. Monk, in particular, ...
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