Customer Reviews

85 Candles - Live in New York

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As might be expected, this is a quite uneven collection, capturing the festive occasion that was Marian's 85th birthday party. There are no truly "low" points but a few that are inessential. Norah Jones reprises Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You," the single standard from her gold record "Come Away with Me" (Karrin Allyson, despite having vocal difficulties on this date, proves more engaging with her reading of Marian's "Twilight World"). Both Marian and the great (always underrated) Billy Taylor have some memory lapses and moments of indecision but cover well (nevertheless, pianist Bill Charlap proves to be critical to the evening's musical success).

Phil Woods is predictably masterful on each of his turns, especially on Harold Arlen's "Last Night When We Were Young." Tenor saxophonists Ravi Coltrane and Loren Schoenberg contribute effective solos, though the standout is Chris Potter, who combines the motivic development of a Sonny Rollins with the smooth, assured virtuosity of a Sonny Stitt (I doubt he could be upstaged by any current tenor player--Branford, Josh, Lovano, Brecker, Liebman, Alexander, etc.).

The most revelatory moments of the event come with the contributions of the trumpet stars, each providing a distinctive approach reflecting the influence of a different predecessor. Dave Douglas is clearly the musical child of Miles Davis, capturing the tone quality, extrovertish sound, adventurous note choices, and bi-tonal scales that characterized Miles' playing 1960-1967; Roy Hargrove is the direct heir of Clifford Brown's inspired lyricism and unforced drama; Jon Faddis goes for the stratosphere, conjuring up the spirit of mentor Dizzy Gillespie during the late forties and early fifties, when Diz was at his pyrotechnical best. Finally, Clark Terry is still Clark Terry, sounding almost as proficient on this occasion as he does on the 1969 White House 70th birthday party for Duke Ellington (Jim Hall and Billy Taylor were also musical guests at both celebrations).

There may have been 85 candles present, but together they produced a vital flame, a torch one can only be too happy to see passed on.

What a fine album, plenty of guest stars here but it is McPartland's steady, graceful, and understated piano playing which is the backbone of this album.

Many live albums suffer from bad production, this one doesn't. It captures the live feel, without overdoing the applause.

Marian's duet with Norah Jones on "The Nearness of You" might be worth the entire price of this album. It is spine-tingling good and makes one wonder why Jones is singing that average poppy music instead of venturing more into traditional jazz. She aces this tune in a big way.

The rest of it is great, too. Lots of fun, makes one wish they were at this grand celebration to honor a jazz master.

One of my favorite things of the past several years has been listening to Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz series every Sunday on NPR. Her collaboration with other Jazz artists is always interesting and fun to listen to. This album continues that collaboration, with many artists and many memorable tunes. If you like Jazz piano, this is a must for your collection.

if you love jazz then give this album a try. I had never heard of Marian McPartland, but glad I bought this as she opened me up to a whole new repetoire of jazz music. such talent and a great album.

Marian MacPartland is a unique
female jazz performer and composer
who was not appreciated enough so far.
I became her fan and real admirer recently,
having an opportunity to listen to her
many recordings. Great musical soul, very
much into jazz with superb sense of harmony.