Music of Jerome Kern

Adam Makowicz | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 28, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Concord Records
• ASIN: B0000006MF
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,837 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. All the Things You Are

2. The Way You Look Tonight

3. Who?

4. The Song Is You

5. I Won't Dance

6. Ol' Man River

7. Long Ago (And Far Away)

8. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

9. Yesterdays

10. Dearly Beloved

11. I'm Old Fashioned

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kern in a new setting., May 31, 2000

By 

Tom Ewall (Lawrence, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music of Jerome Kern (Audio CD)

Adam Makowicz is a pianist heavily influenced by Art Tatum. Makowicz explains being amazed (like so many) by Tatum as he listened to him for hours in his native Poland. That led the door to listening to other pianists such as Hines, Teddy Wilson, etc., eventually serving as a catalyst for his going out on his own.

The two influences I notice are Tatum and Monk. Tatum's influence is very strong, felt in the runs throughout many of the songs and also the style of the introductions, although the runs are less pervasive than in Tatum's case. However, when they do appear they are spectacularly performed, and have the advantage of technology that Tatum didn't have, resulting in a very crisp sound.

Monk's influence is more subtle. Like Monk, Makowicz prefers not to stray too far from the melody letting that be the basis of his improvisation, although he can do creative things with the harmony (although not nearly as strident as Monk).

The trio's music is very easy to listen to (it's melodic, and swings), yet has many moments which warrant close listening as well. The average length of the songs is between 5 and 6 minutes, so there is enough time for some exploration beyond a simple statement of the melody. One devise Makowicz uses more often than many is to play in parallel (that is, keeping the same chords as the melody goes up or down), which leads to some interesting effects.

It is ironic that Kern so disliked jazz musicians "tinkering" with his melodies when they so effortlessly lend themselves to improvisation with wonderful effect in the hands of talented musicians such as these.

5.0 out of 5 stars Classical Jazz........., January 30, 2011

By 

Robert J. Ament "papacoolbreeze" (Ballwin, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music of Jerome Kern (Audio CD)

if you can refer to excellent jazz played on standards with a somewhat classical bent with virtuoso musicianship. I felt compelled to write this review even though this artist and this cd in particular is quite apparently not a household word. The artist is recognized as a disciple of Art Tatum and is easily identified as such. I would say that it is also apparent that he has a great respect and love for the works of Jerome Kern.

Fairly recently I reviewed the work of another pianist with the comments that she adhered closely to the melody and stated her thoughts in the range of 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 minutes; that her talent was very good but that she played it "safe" by not straying too far from the melody and running the risk of boring the listener. This album is an effective counter argument that is presented in the range of 6 minutes or longer on the average and does not bore the listener because the artist really expresses creativity in a manner that I can't describe because I'm not a musician. The result is all that counts for me in that I found the results to be very refreshing arrangements of the original music.

George Mraz is a consummate bassist but has never sounded better than when playing with this pianist. I'm referring to his work on this album but I am really anticipating a couple of the duo albums produced where his bass virtuosity really shines (not detracting from his playing at all on this effort).

This is excellent piano jazz, trio jazz, or just because you enjoy the music of Jerome Kern. An excellent choice for your listening pleasure!