Customer Reviews

Take It From the Top

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Sometimes the prodigiously talented have a harder time making a lasting impression in the jazz world than those below their talent level who have a more singular vision. Bob James strikes me as such a player. To my reckoning, he has made only three truly great records among the many he has recorded: the two with Earl Klugh, One on One and Two of a Kind (why Columbia has never issued these two short and aurally compatible records as one disc can only be attributed to corporate greed), and this one.

The problem? He's too glib, too capable of playing with absolute proficiency in any and every style be it pop, blues, fusion, acoustic jazz, funk, and third stream. But not usually with riveting and spectacular singularity. Consequently he typically finds himself in the awkward category of jack of all trades and master of none. Whereas players like Mal Waldron or Don Pullen or Ahmad Jamal or Abdullah Ibrahim, who define a particular style and pretty much stick with it their entire career, often end up making a more lasting contribution.

Here, he confines his playing to the relatively restricted tonal and dynamic configuration of the acoustic piano trio, playing a kind of tribute program in which he pays honor to some of his main influences: Red Garland, Oscar Peterson, Glenn Gould, Ahmad Jamal, Nat King Cole, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, John Lewis, and Mal Waldron. One could do worse than have these masters as their mentors! The thing that lifts this disc out of the pedestrian category of simply "tribute disc" into the category of essential piano trio music is that James, nearer the end of his career (one supposes) than its beginning, has the distance and perspective to have thoroughly assimilated his influences and to have transmuted their base pianistic elements into alchemic gold. OK, that's not quite the way to put it, because to describe the contributions of these masters as "base" is simply inapt. What I'm trying to get at is to say that the mere regurgitation of others' pianistic moves has a kind of baseness per se, and only when the pianisms of others can be thoroughly transformed can their elemental contribution achieve its properly glory, which is what happens here. Of course, it helps mightily to have lured perhaps the absolute top jazz rhythm duo, James Genus (bass) and Billy Kilson (drums) onto his project. Kilson, late of that truly magical band, The Dave Holland Quintet, especially stamps these proceedings with an aural alchemy. But the real magic is the leader's ability to brilliantly evoke the masters all the while sounding little if anything like them.

This is the record I've been waiting 20 years for Bob James to make. I applaud him for forsaking what I'm sure has been an entirely monetarily successful career as a mainly fusion guy to return to this acoustic jazz context, especially risky in face of such monster modernist players such as Frank Kimbrough, The Bad Plus, Jason Moran, and EST, not to mention monster newcomers such as Tord Gustavsen, Jean-Michel Pilc, and Taylor Eigsti. But James is equal to the task, and delivers a startlingly beautiful and amazingly accomplished recording.

Recommended without reservation.

Anything Bob James records is great and once again he proves why he is one of the top musicians of all time. Bob plays freely, improvising throughout the CD. Whether playing Traditional Jazz or Smooth Jazz, Bob has a way to make you feel good. The first Bob James Trio album was a classic. It has been a long time coming but this one was worth the wait! Fantastic!!!

I am writing this review while I am listening to this CD for the first time. This CD is amazing. I have been listening to Bob James music for the past 20 years and he is one of my favourite piantist (My favourite pianist is Chick Corea).

This CD is truly fantastic and the quality of music is first class.

I hope that Bob James sticks to this style of playing although his playing style is fantastic but this type of music is on a much higher level.

Recommended for all Bob James Fans

have been waiting for forty years for bob james to return to the straight ahead jazz trio format and this offering is a must have gem.from beginning to end every track reinforces his consumate talent and has the ability to put a stupid smile on your face for days.

This sophmore follow up to the first Bob James Trio "Straight Up" is perhaps the best of the two. Here he paired with James Genus on Bass and Billy Kilson on Drums as opposed to "Straight Up" with Brian Blades on Drums and Christian McBride on Bass.

Not to disparage the bass and drum musicians on these sessions. But to my mind Ron Carter on Bass and Steve Gadd on Drums would have made a world of difference.

In doing jazz in a trio setting, there is little room for error and all must be on top of their game for this to work out. So all jazz trio sessions will ultimely be gauged to the mesmerizing work of Bill Evans and his trios. No one has done it better.

What we have here is a pleasant excercise in the trio setting. I don't know if Bob James was trying for a Bill Evans effect or not. But this could have been in that vein.

Don't get me wrong here. I like this album a lot and has a permanent place in my rotation as does his first effort.

In fact I ernestly await the third jazz trio session if and when Bob James gets around to it. I think he needs to be paired with jazz musicians that will push his art in jazz trio to the next level. Both of these albums are very good indeed, but I am still looking for that magic touch that I know Bob James has in trio settings.

Overall I highly recommend this album to anyone that embraces jazz in a trio setting.

Für die Puristen unter den Jazz Fans eine sehr lohnenswerte Anschaffung. James geht mit dieser Platte zurück zu seinen Anfängen. Absolut geniale Interpretationen von Jazz-Größen wie Red Garland, Oscar Peterson, Glenn Gould, Ahmad Jamal, Nat King Cole, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, John Lewis, und Mal Waldron.