Moodsville

Tommy Flanagan | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (January 1, 1995)
• Label: Ojc
• ASIN: B000000YA8
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,062,357 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. In the Blue of the Evening

2. You Go to My Head

3. Velvet Moon

4. Come Sunday

5. Born to Be Blue

6. Jes' Fine

7. In a Sentimental Mood

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In a laid back piano bar, February 7, 2002

By 

Bob Carpenter (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trio (Audio CD)

Tommy Flanagan must have been an obvious choice for the Prestige Moodsville series, which the liner notes explain were intended to provide a a compilation of performances where "imporant names in jazz can just relax and play the tunes they like" and where the "emphasis will be on relaxed, thoughtful and expressive jazz, after hours music if you will". In this set, Flanagan and his trio play a selection of little known 1930s ballads. In addition to Flanagan on the ivories, his trio features Tommy Potter on bass, who adds just a touch of depth and movement, and Roy Haynes on drums, who treats the skins to a light touch with the brushes. The fourth track, Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" is a beautiful solo piano number. The penultimate song, "Jes' Fine", is the only song written by Flanagan. It picks things up just a touch and adds some counterpoint and a more insistent bass line. But then Tommy brings us back to the mellow mood in which we started with the final song, another Duke Ellington number, "In a Sentimental Mood".

Rudy van Gelder captured the exquisite sound in his usual manner by setting up a couple of high-fidelity microphones and letting the players and room speak for themselves. If I close my eyes, I'm in the Village Vanguard listening to him live.

My only complaint is that the album is only 34 minutes long. When I'm in the mood for Tommy Flanagan, I could listen to him and his trio all night. I'd suggest another Tommy Flanagan Trio album, "Overseas", as an excellent complement to this one. Or catch Flanagan in different surroundings on any number of early Dexter Gordon recordings or on Sonny Rollins' "Saxophone Colossus", which is perhaps my all time favorite be-bop album.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding ballad album by a jazz piano master, July 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Trio (Audio CD)

Flanagan is one of the great living exponents of the Bud Powell lineage. Throughout his career, Flanagan has taken these roots and developed his own distinctive sound. This 1960s performance has it all. Except for one fat, wonderful and hard driving blues, it is all ballads. Arguably, this is one of the most beautiful piano ballad albums ever recorded and, in my opinion, the Flanagan album to own. The warmth, emotional depth, and unique subtlety of Flanagan's interpretations cannot be described with words. Highest recommendation.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is REAL jazz!, June 28, 2001

By 

N. Miner (New York, N.Y. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trio (Audio CD)

Not only is the music brilliant, but the sound of this recording (Rudy Van Gelger) alone is worth the price of admission. This is classis Tommy playing beautiful songs and getting first rate swinging and at times very sensitive accompaniment from Tommy Potter and Roy Haynes. I myself am a jazz musician and I think this is a must have CD.