The personnel on this enthralling 2-CD set, recorded in 1989, include Richie Beirach on piano, Michael Brecker on tenor sax, his brother Randy on trumpet, bassist George Mraz, guitarist John Scofield and drummer Adam Nussbaum. Warmth, intimacy and understated, unshowy fun are the hallmarks.
"You must remember that it was a different time than 2017," writes the veteran American pianist and composer Beirach (born 1947) as he remembers the late eighties in the liner notes for this appealing two-piece. The package pairs a studio album and a live album recorded at the historic Clinton Studio in New York City where Miles Davis and McCoy Tyner, amogst other jazz luminaries, recorded their immortal creations decades before.
One day, the talented collective did a studio album which begins with a tenderly thoughtful My Funny Valentine before seguing into the gentle bossa nova of Leaving, a tune written by all band members. The next day the musicians invited a small audience in - lucky crowd- and they played different stuff, although there are repeat takes of two tunes, Inborn and Sunday Song.
The record has a curiously nostalgically 'heritage' air on gentle readings of Dizzy Gillespie’s Con Alma, a somewhat brisk You Don’t Know What Love is and Dave Brubeck’s In Your Own Sweet Way. The latter two tunes feature Randy Brecker’s soothing and sometimes soaring trumpet, sympathetic smart piano lines and a subtle but far too brief bass run from Mraz (on the Brubeck tune.)
Beirach enthuses about a different time in his informative liner notes which celebrate a thriving New York jazz scene. "It was before everyone was looking into their smartphones, " writes the piano man. "There were computers but it wasn’t such a dominant vibe in the air. People talked to each other, met in bars, and went out to hear music, especially jazz during the week at clubs in New York, even on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and of course the weekend." Recommended. Check out www.deltamusic.de
