Customer Reviews

With All My Heart

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

 

 

. . . brilliantly pulled off.

What?

Piano trios with a different pianist and bassist for each trio, the common denominator being drummer, leader, and conceptualist, Harvey Mason. Perhaps not all that different from what the late, great bassist Ray Brown did with his Some of My Best Friends Are . . . releases, where he'd invite a bunch of pianists, trumpeters, guitarists, etc., and each one would get a couple or three spotlight appearances.

The difference here is that none of the pianists (and only two of the bassists, Ron Carter [3] and Dave Carpenter [2]) gets more than one appearance. You'd think there'd be a lack of stylistic continuity. But that's not the case. Part of it is that Mason in his storied career has played with such a wide variety of musicians in such a wide variety of styles--everything from swing to bop to hard-bop to fusion to funk to pop--that he's always ready with just the right percussive approach to match these pianists' (and bassists') styles.

It helps, of course, that he's managed to corral some of the very top players: Kenny Barron, Chick Corea, Fred Hersch, Monty Alexander, Cedar Walton, Brad Mehldau, Mulgrew Miller, Herbie Hancock, and Hank Jones (as well as Bob James and Dave Grusin) for the piano chair; and Ron Carter, Eddie Gomez, Charnet Moffett, Larry Grenadier, Charlie Haden, and George Mraz (as well as Mike Valerio, and the aforementioned Dave Carpenter) on bass. The oddest pairing, certainly, is Bob James/Charlie Haden; it's also one of the most successful. They make "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" sound almost fresh--a monumental feat.

I don't think there's a clunker in the bunch. If Dave Grusin's take on "One Morning in May" is too bright, unsubtle, and emptily virtuoso--almost as if the fusion keyboardist is saying, "Look here, I can play this straightahead stuff as well as anybody"--it nevertheless contains some rich harmonic and rhythmic material, and features a quite enchanting bass solo from the relatively unknown Mike Valerio. Unfortunately, it comes right before Herbie Hancock's turn, who proceeds to blow Grusin out of the water with his incredible performance.

Highlights for me--and it's really hard to pick from such true riches--include Herbie Hancock's revelatory take on "Speak Like a Child," Monty Alexander's romp through "Swamp Fire," Fred Hersch's incredibly sensitive reading of "So Far, So Near," Brad Mehldau's brilliant reconfiguration of "Dindi," Kenny Barron's driving rendition of "Bernie's Tune," and Hank Jones's elegantly presented "Tess."

Along the way, Mason proves entirely capable of setting the exact right percussive table for these brilliant modern jazz interpreters, who, stylistically speaking, nearly run the gamut of modern jazz pianism.

I'm entirely taken by this disc. It surely represents a cornucopia of some of the very finest modern acoustic jazz practitioners around. Kudos to Harvey Mason for the concept; highest praise to those willing to invest in this somewhat dicey concept; and humble admiration before the prodigious talent so generously on display here.

Assuming you made it to my review (jazzer's review is pretty good), this project is consdierably different than Harvey's prior solo work. I think this CD is a straight-ahead 'bop" jazz fan's idea of a great project. So many talents appear, you ought to know that it only confirms the respect each must have for Harvey's talent and the idea this project generates. Simply stated, GET IT!!!

I must say, upon first hearing of this CD I was pleasantly surprised. Surprised in that Mason would not only put together a group of virtuoso trios, but let alone a complete acoustical CD. (Opposed to earlier CDs, most notably, work with the ever so smooth, Fourplay.)
He puts together a group of fine pianists: Kenny Barron, Chick Corea, Fred Hersch, Monty Alexander, Bob James, Cedar Walton, Brad Mehldau, Mulgrew Miller, Dave Grusin, Herbie Hancock, and Hank Jones. Two of those mentioned, Bob James and Dave Grusin, one might be inclined to not listen. After all, James & Grusin have spent most of their time in the smooth jazz idiom for quite some time. Bob James does a nice job with "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" though. As he does stay within the changes, the tune is still given a fresher, newer interpretation. Out of all the pianists, the best performances are given by Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Brad Mehldau. (If I had to choose 3.) Chick Corea's interpretation of "If I Should Lose You" is intriguing. You are pushed right back to the "Now He Sings, Bow He Sobs" from when Chick played with Miroslav Vitous & Roy Haynes. Chick also brings his in his signature piano voicings, reminiscent of McCoy Tyner. His improvisations are really hip, venturing outside of the chord structure but still maintaining great pulse and sound within the trio. Chick's double time playing really shows his impeccable technique as well. Dave Carpenter's bass solo is also quite nice. One of the best trios on the CD. Also, listen to how Chick, Dave, and Harvey trade 4's towards the end. Nice playing there. Through all these tracks, Harvey Mason maintains a great feel, never overplaying the other 2 members. He keeps his drum solos rather simple, but still with an inner complexity, reminiscent of Philly Joe Jones. Could this be the start of something new for Mason?

A release is a collaboration between an artist and a label. The artist hopes to connect with an audience and make valuable musical statements in the process. The label hopes to connect with your pocketbook and make valuable money, and agrees to bear some of the more tedious business responsibilities along the way. Harvey Mason, as the artist, delivers the goods here with finely crafted acoustic trio performances. RCA Bluebird, as the label, drops the ball somewhat on the other hand, with no formal track-by-track composer credits shown and no publishing rights information given either. Rather odd for a major. Some further mis-information lies within Mason's own self-penned liner notes. Each track title is shown, along with the name of the pianist and the bassist who perform on the track, right where you would more typically see parenthetical composer credits. This can lead to confusion - take All Music Guide's entry for example, which does not hesitate to assert that the pianist and bassist for each track *ARE* the composers. But let's not get started on AMG entries. Mason then offers his illuminating discussion of the story behind each track. Sometimes he identifies who he thinks the composer is and sometimes he is correct, but more often he is not. (See below for my choices.) The one place where we have to take his word for it is on the final track "Tess", where Mason credits his production assistant John Beasley. RCA shouldn't make us work this hard to fully appreciate these fine performances. Mason should be forgiven for his incidental oversights, and praised for his outstanding musicianship, which many of us have admired over the years despite his associations with GRP's Dave Grusin For A Brusin, and the Bob James smooth-as-laxative stupor-group Foreskin. Bravo, Harvey! Linger here musically for as long as you can, but maybe get a new label.

1. Bernie's Tune (Bernie Miller - Jerry Leiber - Mike Stoller)
2. If I Should Lose You (Ralph Rainger - Leo Robin)
3. So Near, So Far (Tony Crombie - Benny Green, British saxophonist/critic)
4. Swamp Fire (Harold Mooney)
5. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (Jerome Kern - Otto Harbach)
6. Hindsight (Cedar Walton)
7. Dindi (Antonio Carlos Jobim - R. Gilbert)
8. Without A Song (Vincent Youmans - Billy Rose - Edward Eliscu)
9. One Morning In May (Hoagy Carmichael - Mitchell Parish)
10. Speak Like A Child (Herbie Hancock)
11. Tess (John Beasley)

This is an album of piano-bass-drums. But, with a variety pack of pianists and bassists. Some combinations work better than others. Fave for me was the cut with Chick Corea. Certainly a display of the taste, versatility, responsiveness and adaptability of Harvey Mason, a living jazz treasure. By the way, this is all ding-ding-a-ding swing, none of that stuff he does with Fourplay. Bears repeated study...

About 4.5 stars.
Great recording and tight playing make this a keeper for all of you folks that need an acoustic post bop fix.
I would like to hear him with McCoy Tyner,but in a pinch,Chick will do just fine.
If you see it in the bargain bins,grab it (I just did) and was glad for having done so.