Customer Reviews

Plectrist

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Billy Bauer is one of the most talented and original jazz guitarists to come out of the golden years of jazz, and yet he remains THE most underrated musician in jazz of the 40s and 50s. His work with Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz and many others profoundly influenced the future of jazz guitar, in a melodic and harmonic sense. This is Mr. Bauer's only recording as a leader and until now it has only been available on a rare and almost impossible to locate LP. This album contains a handful of originals, as well as several unique standards, and it concludes with an original solo guitar piece. "The Plectrist" is an essential recording for anyone who would wish to become wholly familiar with jazz guitar, or anyone who loves spontaneous, beautifully performed, joyous art.

Plectrist is without question one of the best albums I have had the pleasure of listening to over recent times. Despite the fact I have had the album for some time now I continue to keep it in the car for peace of mind whilst driving. It is music as sweet as nectar with a style of its very own. Billy Bauer is not only a class artist but is someone I would dearly love to listen to live.

For people interested in a variety of guitar styles Billy Bauer is a great treat. I can't get his version of "Lullaby of the Leaves" out of my head sometimes.

Billy Bauer might not be as well known as Tal Farlow or Kenny Burrell, but he's just as good as both. This reissues the old Norgran LP from 1956, with some extra tracks thrown in. Bauer's original "Lincoln Tunnel" is an up-tempo swinger, but "You'd be so nice to come home to" is the highlight of the album. An enticing CD.

As a pro jazz/classical guitarist I've been aware of Bauer from his recordings with Lee Konitz and Lennie Tristano. These are wonderful recordings if you can find them(Tristano's Intuition on ProperBox 64 is a gem worth having!). Another is Konitz's Tranquility but not available at this time.

This recording was a complete shock to me because I never knew he recorded a session under his own name. It doesn't matter what songs are on this CD since Bauer's sense of melodic/harmonic embellishment are amoung the very finest ever. If you're a guitarist, do yourself a favor and buy this. If you're not a guitarist leave it for guitarists to buy...

Dave Wilson

I was lucky to have a friend that had the LP. I made a tape and this lasted over 15 years, but alas the tape broke a few years ago. Now, this great recording is reissued on CD. I support 100% of what the other 5 star reviewers said. His solos are just about perfect. One might call this "pop bob", because the solos are very relaxed and easy to listen to, but they are not simple. Each solo is a complete statement and on the standards relates to the melody and structure of the song. While there are no "burning licks" like one gets in a jam session, the solos are instead musical statements of beauty. A MUST for anyone who loves Jazz Guitar.

Billy Bauer is, quite simply, the most melodic, smooth, lyrical jazz guitarist I think I have ever heard. I play and have studied jazz guitar and his simple, soft phrasing is simply exquisite. His solo's, like the true greats, are worth listening to note-for-note as nothing is wasted and his command of the instrument is outstanding. This, his only work as the lead man, contains beautiful ballads, originals and terrific renditions of standard material. It's been said he may be the most underrated jazz guitarist of his generation and I believe this to be true.

I was lucky to have a friend that had the LP. I made a tape and this lasted over 15 years, but alas the tape broke a few years ago. Now, this great recording is reissued on CD. I support 100% of what the other 5 star reviewers said. His solos are just about perfect. One might call this "pop bob", because the solos are very relaxed and easy to listen to, but they are not simple. Each solo is a complete statement and on the standards relates to the melody and structure of the song. While there are no "burning licks" like one gets in a jam session, the solos are instead musical statements of beauty. A MUST for anyone who loves Jazz Guitar.

Outside of the Lennie Tristano group, Bauer showed himself to be a tasty mainstream jazz guitarist, less cerebral than one might expect from someone who became known alongside Tristano and Lee Konitz.

Bauer's rhythm section here (I'm speaking of bass and drums only) gets a feel comparable to that on Tal Farlow's quartet dates of the same period. It's a light, straight-forward swing, provided by Milt Hinton and Ossie Johnson, a pair of musicians who played on hundreds of dates together. The pianist, chosen by Bauer (as were Hinton and Johnson) solos very little, and he is not a memorable foil to Bauer in the way that pianist Eddie Costa was for Tal. But that's not necessarily a bad thing; since there's so little of Bauer's playing available, it's nice to have him front and center throughout the album. His tone is a little softer than Farlow's (and similar to Jim Hall's tone on studio dates from the early sixties), and his playing is more relaxed than Farlow's. While Bauer's playing emphasized subtlety and restraint moreso than Farlow's, the album is not mood music or even merely pleasant-sounding jazz. Milt and Ossie keep things popping along without ever calling attention to themselves--it's one of those mid-1950s sessions that probably seemed unremarkable at the time but now has a classic feel.

"Moon Mist" is a solo chord-melody tune written by Bauer; the rest of the date is played by the quartet. If you like Verve-era Tal in particular and classic jazz guitar in general, this is pretty much a must have (if you can get ahold of a copy). Too bad Bauer doesn't have a string of albums following this to document his playing.