Search - Ruby Braff, Dick Hyman :: Music From My Fair Lady: With An Extra Bit Of Luck

Armstrong and Hines Would Be Proud

Thomas Storer | Paris, France | 06/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Any jazz duo featuring brass and piano invites comparison with Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines, and in particular their 1927 masterpiece, "Weather Bird (Rag)." Cornetist Ruby Braff's devotion to Armstrong was unflagging even in the heyday of bebop, when hipsters dismissed old-fashioned ways, but his superbly original voice, with its sardonic melodic twists, its epiphanies of swing, and its unmistakable, burnished tone, has long since been recognized for the treasure it is. In this thoroughly satisfying set of duets on music from the Lerner and Loewe musical "My Fair Lady," Braff and swing-piano expert Dick Hyman do their forebears proud. The songs lend themselves perfectly to the jaunty arrangements, and the solos dance in that delicious disequilibrium between elegant poise and exciting spontaneity. Of Braff's many fine recordings of duos with pianists, this is the one I'd keep if I had to keep only one."