Customer Reviews

The Red Hot Ray Brown Trio

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recorded at the Blue Note in New York City in 1985. The recording engineering is excellent to the extent that everytime I hear this I feel that I'm indeed sitting in the club during the performance.

This is one of those in my LP collection that I was long overdue in converting to CD (I have kept my vinyl in excellent condition and ,yes, I prefer the cd format for documentation purposes!).

Leader Ray Brown I always referred to as the "all univers bassist" because of his huge and comfortable sound and his ability to interact and enhance the performance of his companion players. His supportive talents are evident throughout the whole album, but never more than "That's All" which also contains some beautiful time shifts. Listen to the room expression of appreciation during and after this one! Ray also has some terrific intros on "Lady Be Good" and his original, "Captain Bill", where he cleverly inserts a few notes of "Chloe". An example of his fine arco bass playing is on the title song from the 1956 Elvis Presley movie "Love Me Tender".

Gene Harris, whose career revival was largely attributable to Ray, was an Oscar Peterson influenced pianist who(my opinion) was a superlative practitioner of the blues, frquently displaying a funky overtone. He was also very under rated in his abilty to play an excuciatingly beautiful ballad. A perfect example of this occurs with Victor Young's "Street of Dreams" which starts out as a ballad and transitions briefly into hard blues before segueing back into the ballad. Note also on this selection the fine accompanying bass work by Ray Brown. The influence of Erroll Garner on Gene really comes through on Tyree Glenn's composition, "How Could You Do A Thing Like This To Me".

The trio is rounded out by Mickey Roker, a veteran drummer who has played over the years with a host of name players, his work with Ray and Milt Jackson being most familiar to me. His work can best be appreciated on "Meditation" and his brush work especially on both "Street of Dreams" and "That's All".

"Captain Bill", a tribute to Count Basie", is the closer to this happy set complete to the ending Basie signature by Gene Harris.

This is a cd you will be glad to have added to your collection!

Worth every penny. My favorite track is their rendition of Elvis's old song, Love Me Tender. It's just beautiful featuring Ray Brown's bass which almost sounds like a cello in some spots. I heard this song being played on my car radio & actually pulled off the road so I could copy down the artists. Gene Harris's piano work is excellent too. The whole album is great.

For pure feel , this album says it all.My favourite track is "That's All" in particular the ending.You can taste the atmosphere, It would have been great to be there on the night.The second track which stands out in my mind is "Meditation" we all have "Jobim" to thank for that.however , it's Brown's Trio which delivers the goods.The balance of the album is excellent...Spend your money with confidence it's worth it! also look out for Brown's BEST trio album "Solar Energy".

Ray Brown became a seasoned bass player with Oscar Peterson. Oscar and Gene Harris have similarities in drive and dexterity otherwise they go in different directions. This CD is one of the best examples of Ray and Gene collaborating in what will be remembered as one of their greatest legacies.

This is Ray and his trio at their best. I love recordings of live performances (especially at venues I frequent) and this is one of the best of the genre. Ray and Gene are particularly tasty in "That's All": if you close your eyes you think you are seated at the first table directly in front of the bandstand. A must have for any serious collector.

The artistry inherent in this recording showcases the incredible talents of these unparalleled musicians. Brown's never been better and Gene Harris? OhMiGod.