Customer Reviews

Piano Interpretations

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From the first note of "Blue Moon", there is no doubt that you are hearing (a then 20 year-old) Wynton Kelly. The opening is unmistakable - it is similar in many ways to the opening cut from a trio LP nearly 20 years later ("I Want A Little Girl" from "Full View"). Make no mistake, this is not the full-blown unique Kelly you hear on Miles' recordings, or Diz', or any of his many Riverside and Verve collaberations - you can hear strains of both Errol Garner as well as Teddy Wilson creeping into these early recordings - but the 'Wynton-isms' are present as well, and these are not, by any means, tentative recordings. Formative, yes. However, some of these tracks could very well stand on their own in later years. "Cherokee" is one example: Wynton comes out with mature and swinging solo lines that belie his age. It is a stand-out recording of the tune under ANY circumstances, let alone a very first record date. The entire compilation of all of Wynton's first Blue Note recordings, cut in July and August of 1951, are a really pleasant suprise. I would go as far as to say that some of them could be included in a "Best Of The Wynton Kelly Trio" CD. That is high praise, indeed. A thoroughly enjoyable CD.

Originally released in 1951, is an import only release. The music here has seldom been reissued, and pianist Wynton Kelly is in trio formation. Influenced by Bud Powell and Teddy Wilson, Kelly was still a teenager at the time her recorded this. Superb material!

Wynton Kelly (piano)
Franklin Skeete or Oscar Pettiford (bass)
Lee Abrams (drums)