Cedar Walton: (Astor Place)
Walton's nonpareil talents as pianist and composer are once again beautifully displayed in this just-released album recorded at the start of 1997. With a basic trio of himself, Ron Carter and Lewis Nash, he shares the limelight with Joshua Redman, Terence Blanchard and Mark Whitfield, on tenor, trumpet and guitar, using an additional ensemble to bookend some exceptional playing by all concerned. All of his guests impress on each of the three tracks on which each is featured, not least because Walton's compositions seem conducive to good blowing, and he's generous with space. It's the leader, however, who steals the show. There's an exuberance, vitality and sheer breadth of melodic imagination to his work which is irresistible. No new ground broken, but Walton's own fields remain abundantly fertile.
Ray Comiskey
Ella Fitzgerald: 30 By Ella (Capitol)
An album of six medleys, each of six songs, with a final song added as an afterthought, sounds distinctly unpromising - a quick flip round the Parthenon of the Great American Songbook. In this case, surprisingly, it works. Fitzgerald was in marvellous form on this late 1960s album, her innate musicianship and good taste taking her through a difficult assignment. She had help; the great alto, Benny Carter, chose the material and fitted the musical pieces together with consummate skill, also heading a septet which included trumpeter Harry Edison (who died a few weeks ago) and tenor George Auld. The album's title is not the fault of the numerically challenged; several instrumentals just about keep the numbers right, as Carter, Edison and Auld get their place in the sun.
Ray Comiskey