Customer Reviews

Great Jazz Piano of Phineas Newborn Jr.

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

 

 

Boppin' and burnin' !! Tons of fun and deepness in Phineas's music !! Probably one of the five most talented piano player in the whole history of jazz, Phineas was simply a marvel with the ivories. I can't understand people's complaining about excess of technique in Phineas music. What's the point? For this people a pianist or a jazz musician should play only at medium or slow tempos or only play simple to be taken seriously. What's the point? I think it is a lack of understanding of the real beauty of music. For me it is never a matter of speed or of simple things against complex things .. it is always a matter of beauty! And Phineas knew the meaning of the word for sure. Moreover bebop language is a complex idiom, think of Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie .. did they play slow? Did they play simple ? Of course not !! Were them little musicians? Obviously not, they were simply the greatest Jazz players of all time .. so what? What's wrong with Phineas need for speed? He always delivers a great music experience. He touch me in the deepest just when he play at the highest speed. Playing fast and RIGHT saying things is a something few players can do. But Phineas can play spectacular and emotionally deep slow solos too. Listen how he played on "Prelude to a kiss" for example .. of course there are some doublings here and there but Bird would do them too ... man Phineas plays magnificiently with octaves, block chords, I mean, he was incredible.
This album is a wonderful bebop album. I treasure every album Phineas did. He was a master and he will always be one of my all time favourite musician. And I am a Jazz guitarist not a pianist. Enough said.

There are only two reasons I purchased this album, and that was because of two of the tracks. Track 6 is called "Theme for Basie" and is a delight to hear. With Sam Jones on bass and Leroy Haynes on drums, the ensemble playing sparkles with a clean tight sound. You can almost sense Count Basie smiling at what the trio does with this tune.

Track 4 is Duke Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss," and I really wanted to buy this CD only to hear this track over and over again. Leroy Vinegar (bass) and Milt Turner (drums) help make this a very pleasant tribute to Ellington. Every time I listen to "Prelude to a Kiss" I wonder with amazement how Duke Ellington came up with this very beautiful composition.

Don't be deceived by my 3-star rating. The only reason I gave the album 3 stars was because I wasn't very impressed or interesting in the other seven tracks. I found myself jumping to the next track to see if that one would capture my attention. It didn't. Were I to rate the album based soley on tracks #4 and #6 (especially #4), I would give it 5 stars.

He is a monster. At first, I was just thrilled by Oscar Peterson's playing (and I still am) but then I heard Phineas Newborn Jr. You can even hear in his playing some things that Oscar has borrowed from him. Listen to Phineas for some of the greatest work in parallel lines. From start to finish, you will need to wear a seat belt for this cd. He is great!!!!!

This 1961/62 date is extraordinary form start to finish. Phineas experiments with several tempos and styles throughout this recording and each one shines in its own respect. Highlights include "This Here" and a version of Monk's "Well, You Needn't". The only faultering moments appear in "Celia" and Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss" but these faults are very minor. If you like jazz piano then this album is quite simply a must buy.

Great musicians who are unusually gifted, who do not use their talents with restraint and taste, come off as arrogant. When technique overwhelms, the music is compromised. This is the problem with Phineas Newborn (and Oscar Peterson). Not content to play the right notes beautifully, they must play a hundred notes to show you that they can. While Newborn's fingers are Tatumesque in their "virtuosity", the same can't be said for his taste. Compare his treatment of "Celia" to Bud Powell's original Verve recording. Newborn guts the delicate, almost lacy song and plays breakneck. Powell, who possessed the greatest piano skills of anyone after (and some say, including) Tatum, never obscured the music he played with displays of technique. Newborn botches "This Here" as well. Bobby Timmons' tune, sanctified and groove-infused, is rendered soulless by Phineas. Newborn is a piano player extraordinaire. But there is a difference between a piano player and a musician.