Search - Anthony Wonsey :: The Thang

"The Thang" is Top Rate

John Tapscott | Canada | 03/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anthony's Wosney's first Sharp Nine recording "Blues for Hiroshi" was a most enjoyable piano trio CD, and gave a strong indication of a talent still unfolding. With his latest CD "The Thang", Anthony Wonsey takes his music to an even higher level. Wonsey is a fluent hard-bop pianist with a refreshing and appealing approach. Wonsey's solos unfold logically and clearly, but also with a sense of unpredictability and excitement. Indeed, this CD has just about everything the lover of modern bop-based jazz could ask for - a program balanced between four standards and four compositions by Wonsey; a beautiful recording quality; swinging solos; plus strong and sympathetic sidemen (bassist Nat Reeves, drummer Joe Farnsworth, and tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander who appears on 4 tracks).



The CD begins with a swinging and engaging version of "All the Things You Are", which keeps the listener slightly off-balance with its shifting time signatures. "The Thang" is a funky Wonsey original undergirded by Joe Farnsworth's insistent drumming and a strong solo by Alexander. The bossa "Pamela" features one of Wonsey's best solos on the CD, and Farnsworth`s brush stroke which ends the track is a magic moment. "Hey Jimmy" is a medium swinger which features a relaxed solo by Alexander. "The Paper Chase" is a modal burner created by Wonsey for Eric Alexander to display his intense uptempo solo style. Alexander is also featured on a driving "Speak Low". The CD ends with two trio tracks - the relatively gentle "Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder, which nevertheless features some strong chordal work and dancing right hand lines by Wonsey, and the hard-swinging "Billy Boy".



There is much variety on this CD in grooves and tempos, but it all holds together remarkably well. One of the remarkable features of the CD is that Wonsey's own compositions do not take a back seat to the strong standards at all. Wonsey is not only a very impressive pianist, but a very fine composer, as well. This highly recommended recording is one of the gems in Marc Edelman's stellar Sharp Nine catalogue.

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