Customer Reviews

Hues of Blues

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

 

 

There is, indeed, buried treasure in the vaults of Concord Jazz. George Mraz has been around for a long time with his marvelous bass playing--as a sideman and even fronting groups. So his presence and playing came as no surprise to me.

But...Walter Norris. This guy is a gift. Pensive, witty, gentle, bluesy--Norris is all that on this recording of piano and bass. This is another of Concord's Duo series, and Norris and Mraz are amazingly sympatico, backing each other up, but, most often, complimenting each other's musings. The Evans' groups, of course, had that feeling of musicians who knew each others' next move before it was made. Mraz and Norris approach that intimacy here.

Listen to "Have You Met Miss Jones" or Norris' own delicately meandering "Hues of Blue" and you'll see what I mean. These guys feed off each other, nourish each other, clearly understand the sensibilities of each other. Neither seems to be following the other's lead--instead, each seems to be on the same path of discovery--unearthing surprising new ideas in this menu of mostly
standards. And then, at the end of this cd, just give yourself over to Norris' "Afterthoughts." As elegant as music can be.

Concord often cleans out its vaults, eliminating old cd's from its catalogue. This cd seems to be expereiencing that fate right now. Act quickly; this is jazz at its finest. A true meeting of the minds, and of the hearts.

.............and yes George Mraz(bass) and Walter Norris(piano) are virtuosos on their respective instruments. George Mraz is also featured with Walter Norris on the Enja release Drifting E also very intelligent(i.e. good telepathic communication between the bass and the piano). For two other releases featuring George Mraz and another virtuosic piano player Adam Makowicz in the duo format see '1981's Together Wherever We Go and revisiting each other ten years later Concord Duo Series, Vol. 5 All these releases shine!

I have two Walter Norris trio cds on Concord...They are great to listen to..but for me,this piano-bass duo just falls flat..There is something missing from the mix,even if,as is the case here,both players are themselves expert...The solos are strained,and together the whole has a sort of muted quality,as if fuzzy or recorded at a distance...Now maybe this album is an aquired taste,I don't know...What I do know is that I really didn't like this album much...