5.0 out of 5 stars
An Essential, August 9, 2010
This review is from: Jim Hall's Three (Audio CD)
Scoop this rarity up if and when you see it. It has been out of print for ages and is one of the few settings where you can hear Jim Hall accompanied by only bass and drums, allowing him to stretch out in a most unconfined manner. Often less spare and concise as we are used to from him, Hall takes more melodic risks on this 1986 disc than usual and the results are often angular, pointed and decidedly modern. Veteran Hall bassist Tony LaSpina and drummer Akira Tana weave in an out of Hall's prismatic improvisations with an ease that makes you wish they had recorded a few more sessions.
There are a few standards that get anything but standard treatment and the solo introduction to "Skylark" is classic Jim Hall and worth the price by itself. "All The Things You Are" is almost unrecognizable, but that is a compliment to the inventiveness of the arrangement with its' twists and turns that threaten to fly off the track but instead soars above them.
It is the Hall originals however where he steps out and really challenges the ear. His use of the 12 String guitar on "Bottlenose Blues" is simply startling. This may not be the first Jim Hall recording to buy, but for aficionados of his work it is certainly an essential one.
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