Customer Reviews

Moment's Notice

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I've listened to this CD over and over, and I'm never bored with it. Broadbent and his group strike a perfect blend of tonal, in the pocket bebop styling with modern convention and virtuosity. The result is a product that is enjoyable as an uninterrupted listen, music for driving, or even music to play as you wind down your day before bed. Broadbent has a wonderfully mellow touch, and creates a seemingly impossible fat piano sound that fills your ears to the brim with harmony. His impeccable time, technique, and melodic inventiveness shine on every track. His use of block chords, in the George Shearing tradition, shows us the most modern and fully realized applications of the technique.

Kendall Kay is to the drums what Alan is to the piano, which is very high praise indeed! Kay has an impeccable swing and sense of taste that manifests itself in dazzling brushes and fancy technique, all the while never creating phrasing that's difficult to count or feel. You always know exactly where the beat is, but the journey there is so delightful that you feel as if he was taking you for a scenic drive. He's a drummer who perfectly supports his band mates without making them feel like they need to count beats when he's improvising.

Putter Smith is something of a wild card on this album. To my ears, his style stands in almost stark contrast to Alan and Kay's: Smith tends to use shorter phrases in his improvising (Alan uses very long, melodic lines), and has a melodic approach that feels organic rather than having a sort of textbook chord/scale relationship concept. The relationship almost reminds of Bill Evans with Gary Peacock. Smith has a powerful, thumping tone and a huge walk, which I think serves to ground the very refined Broadbent and Kay. Both Broadbent and Kay use flashy, dazzling technique, while Smith plays, on this album, technically on the simple side. I believe this is a wise choice, as it keeps the album from getting cluttered, and lets the bass effectively swing the group.