Customer Reviews

Night & The City

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kenny Barron is one of the best pianists in jazz today and Night and the City may be his best recording.

Recorded live with bassist Charlie Haden, the pair set a wonderful, late night mood that carries the listener through the entire recording.

Dark, lyrical, intimate, beautiful; this is a record I turn to over and over again.

If you are looking for an audiophile piano recording, this one is outstanding. The piano is close miked, and and you can clearly hear the striking of the keys. The sound is beautiful, and is probably as good of a piano recording as I have heard. The bass background resonates in club and there are no wasted notes. The music is best characterized as soft jazz, and one can imagine listening to this in a posh restaurant / night club. This is one outstading recording deserving of 5 stars.

If that "summary" doesn't convince you to give this recording a gamble, it's because you haven't heard Haden.

Haden's my hero. He knows the true value of "collaboration." Even on the soft ballads, you JUST KNOW what he's going to play, and yet you anticpate every note he plays, and you cherish each passing moment.

Kenny Baron has NEVER disappointed the listener, and once again he pleases me.

Here's the paradox of this music: the listener understands PRECISELY where Barron's boundary ends and Haden's begins; and yet, you're willing to accept the crossings of those boundaries ... but THAT NEVER HAPPENS, and least NOT in the conventional ways.

Simple music and yet very nourishing. Many a moon I have played a Haden CD in my car after a day at work I thought would never end -- but alas, no evening REALLY ends without Haden offering someone else the opportunity to give a commentary.

But why settle for my words when you can just listen for yourself? To paraphrase the MasterCard commercial: some things in life words cannot express ...

... for everything else, there's Charlie Haden...

Haden & Barron tell why this is a truly classic 5 star jazz album by their great artistry. Listen to the superb musical interpretation in "For Heaven's Sake" and "The very thought of you". You will find out why this is a 5 star album.

Many of us have been there......you're in a strange city on a business assignment and you've been puting in a lot of hours . You leave the downtown building well after dark, the streets are no longer crowded and while not exactly foggy, there's a heavy mist that seems to muffle the sounds. You don't really look forward to going back to the hotel room and as you walk you spot a sign proclaiming live jazz music. You think to yourself it might be a good idea to have a drink and unwind so you go down the stairs. The place has a nice ambiance and you notice it has a fair sized patronage considering it's the middle of the week and the weather. You sit down at a table and order a Blanton's on the rocks as the musicians, a bass/piano duo, break into a tune that you immediately recognize as one of your personal favorites by Ray Noble, "The Very Thought of You". As you listen to the music, it becomes apparent to you that you will be here until they are finished playing for the evening or the club runs out of good bourbon.

Yes, that may seem like a bit of fantasy and I would certainly not make it as a writer............however, these are the visions that cropped up in my own mind the first time I heard this cd. While not being a particular fan of duos (although my collection has a number of them), this one holds my interest from begining to end because of the lyricism expressed on these ballads by a pianist whom I thought was always under rated and a bassist whom I had only previously known by reputation. What a listening gold mine!! If it doesn't rank as the top piano album, it wouldn't take long to call the roll!

When you want to unwind, listen to this cd. It's jazz and it's beautifully expressed, sensitive and relaxing.

My husband is a inverterate jazz fan, while I prefer classical music. However, we both adore this graceful, elegant CD. Buy for their breathtaking rendition of "Spring is Here", if nothing else.

This album well expresses the romantic aspect of night and my personal favorite track is "Waltz for Ruth" which romantically expresses love combined with sentimental longing I would highly recommend this album to those who want to fully enjoy the feel of night, this is one of them.

Being a jazz fan of almost everything recorded in between mid- 1950s to beginning of the 60s ( like Red Garland Trio, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly trio, Stan Getz, etc) I was caught off-guard by this CD made in 1998. What a suprise! The quiet mood of all pieces was so unbelievably good that I doubt I can find anything like that in a future. All things are made in sort of "Blue-In-Green"-style of Bill Evans (in my opinion).I can listen it countless times - everytime it's new and fresh.
For those who likes uncrowded settings (duet or trio) and who are not big fans of drums sessions in jazz - this is the perfect music - wish I had it more.

Like everyone else, I loved Charlie Hadens "Nocturne" cd (now there is a 5 star cd for you!)and wanted to hear more. This looked like a good place to start- Hadens' world class bass and stellar pianist Kenny Barron, a duet setting ostensibly playing music reflecting a noirish mood of, well, night and the city. The first selection, a Barron original entitled 'Twilight Song'is just that, mellow, impressionistic and beautifully evocative of the evening.We are also treated to Hadens lovely 'Waltz for Ruth" but the rest of the album largely consists of standards-well done but I would have prefered hearing another original piece or two. A couple of the numbers are a little more uptempo and seem to break the mood the album had so carefully established in the beginning. Barron also gets a little bit too frilly and effusive in his keyboard runs a couple of times, but these are minor quibbles-this is an excellent cd and deserves a place in your collection. While not quite on the same level as the Nocturne CD, this is a lovely duet recording and anyone who loves the aforementioned Nocturne release will probably want this in their collection as well.

Shortly after I bought this CD I saw Sphere Live at the Vanguard, and commented to Kenny That this had to be his best, and probably one of the best Jazz Recordings ever, destined to enter the history books, this is a "must have".

Just buy it, and sit back and listen, as I have time and again.