Brad Mehldau: "Songs" (Warner Bros)
Mehldau's latest, the third volume in his The Art of the Trio series, continues the remarkable and successful four-year association with Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy, bassist and drummer respectively on the previous albums. It's a process of refinement underlined by the fact that this studio-recorded album, made in May, is perhaps more considered than its predecessors. There's a sense of wholeness about most of these performances, a concern to make each an emotionally and structurally complete entity. It is particularly focused on his own Song-Song and Convalescent, superbly developed and controlled group efforts, while the ballads Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, For All We Know and Young At Heart are simply gorgeous, dramatic and romantic.
By Ray Comiskey
Kenny Baker/Warren Vache: "Ain't Misbehavin"' (Zephyr)
Although time has made some inroads on technique Baker, in his 70s, is the dean of British trumpeters, a great mainstream player still capable of well-marshalled soloing. Vache, a generation younger, is a beautifully accomplished and melodic performer. Put them together with a thoroughly compatible rhythm section - Brian Lemon, Howard Alden, Dave Green and Allan Ganley - and standards that fit them all like a glove, and the result is like the musical equivalent of a love-in, with everyone concerned only to make the partnership work. Baker and Vache's styles are complementary - some of the duetting is so apposite it could almost have been written beforehand - while Baker, with a track record as an excellent arranger and composer, is probably the one responsible for providing the routines with enough structure and contrast to keep everything focused, while mutual inspiration does the rest.
By Ray Comiskey
Clifford Adams: "The Master Power": Naxos
Adams, more widely known as Kool & the Gang's trombone player - though his jazz pedigree includes the Art Blakey, Max Roach and Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis bands - makes his debut as leader on a jazz album with this impressive release. Recorded last February, it places him in front of a stellar rhythm section in Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond and Lewis Nash, with the exceptional young saxophonist Antonio Hart added on four tracks and Neil Clark providing additional percussion on three more. Stylistically, Adams comes from bop; there are echoes of J.J. Johnson in his playing and much of Johnson's technical assurance. His tone is clean and full, if not particularly individual or expressive, so his solos stand or fall by their linear and rhythmic qualities and, as such, work well. He's a fine player - but it's Barron and Hart who, with the rhythm section, take the honours.
By Ray Comiskey
