Search - Ruby Braff, Dick Hyman :: Manhattan Jazz

Grab it if you can.

Farrar Hudkins | New Orleans | 10/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was one of the first digital LPs I ever had, and the CD also sounds good, so if you can find it in either format, grab it.



Dick Hyman and Ruby Braff had been playing together for something like ten or twelve years by the time this recording was made. The first time I heard them together was on the 1974 "Satchmo Remembered" tribute to Louis Armstrong live at Carnegie Hall (available from Atlantic, LP only), and I was completely floored by Ruby's command of his instrument: from whispering to shouting, from top to bottom, his tone is outstanding, even in a live setting.



Ruby was never quite the celebrity he perhaps should have been, since he devoted himself to playing "mainstream" (before the term was coined) jazz during the 1960s and 1970s. His choice of cornet instead of trumpet lent him the darker, old-fashioned sound; he never screamed in the high register, nor did any parlour tricks to impress other musicians; he concentrated on playing good music, and only tunes he liked, since they were the only ones he could devote emotion to.



Dick Hyman, who is still with us, can play like anybody, from Scott Joplin to Cecil Taylor (as demonstrated back in 1977[?] with his "Theme and Variations on A 'Child is Born'"), but here he plays like himself, both accompanying Ruby and complementing him, and Dick's solo performance of "I'm Just Wild About Harry" is true to form, showing off Dick in all his quirky, ebullient glory.



Together, they work magic. Their formidable talents combine with the energy of the small, intimate audience gathered for the radio show (which is why this album is about 60 minutes long) for a concert as warm and inviting as a cup of hot cocoa, a quilt, and a fireplace.



And then they make music -- and such music! -- to make you laugh, dance, and cry."