Customer Reviews

Live at Jazz Standard

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

 

 

I'll have to confess, first of all, that my son gave me this album because he didn't care for it. I slipped it into my CD player not expecting much...it's still in there after a week. I keep playing it. The more I listen the more in awe I am of the trio's playing. I'm primarily a wind instrument player and all piano players kinda sound alike to me. Not Bill Mays. He has a definitive style of his own. Very inventive, very clever, very humourous with his brief quotes of other tunes thrown in. I don't get tired of listening (it's a 72 minute CD) as I would with another pianist (outside of Monk, maybe).

Drummer Wilson and bassist Wind are equally inventive and add much more than just back up to May's playing. These familiar tunes are fresh, inventive (I can't help using that adjective) arrangements that will bear listening to over and over. As a rule I don't give any recording 5 stars. I'll let the test of time decide that, but I'm close to it on this album.

P.S. The recording has great sonics. Every voice is heard clear and balanced with just enough reverb to bring the musicians out of the speakers and into your room. 5 stars for the engineer.

If you're a Bill Mays fan, you'll love this. He's best live. We saw him on The 09 Jazz Cruise & his current trio is superb.

...feels/sounds like you were there, cool sounding track #3 nicely unexpected.