Gene DiNovi: Plays the Music of Benny Carter: (HEP)
This is an exhibition of solo piano that's sheer class. DiNovi is a veteran whose experience includes Lester Young, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, as well as spells accompanying singers Tony Bennett, Anita O'Day, Peggy Lee and Lena Horne. Such gilt by association implies impeccable craftsmanship and, brought to bear on the work of another superb musician, it means insinuatingly lovely examinations of the beauty and possibilities of Carter's compositions. There are gorgeous explorations of Blues In My Heart, When Lights Are Low, Only Trust Your Heart, People Time, Souvenir In fact, there is something to savour virtually everywhere on the album.
- Ray Comiskey
Herbie Hancock: My Point Of View: (Blue Note)
Although not of the same calibre as Hancock's classic Maiden Voyage and Empyrean Isles LPs which followed it, this early 1960s album is a charmer in its own right. While looking back to the down home element of Takin' Off, his debut album, some of its pieces, notably King Cobra, also anticipate the modal triumphs of its celebrated successors. There is, too, the cast: an in-form Donald Byrd (trumpet) and Hank Mobley (tenor), with spots for guitarist Grant Green and the adventurous Grachan Moncur III on trombone, and a capable rhythm section completed by Chuck Israels (bass) and Anthony Williams (drums). The results have the calm assurance of Blue Note quality that remains undimmed by time.
- Ray Comiskey