A Delightful CD of Ellington Classics
Stephen A. Smith | Boston, MA | 03/03/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First, let's fill in the blanks:New York Trio: "Love You Madly"; Venus Records 35320, ©2003.Star Crossed Lovers [4:30] / Jump For Joy [4:46] / In a Sentimental Mood [5:57] / Love You Madly [8:21] / Sophisticated Lady [4:58] / I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So [6:48] / Prelude To a Kiss [6:16] / It Don't Mean a Thing [3:55] / C Jam Blues [4:36] / I Let a Song Go Out Of My Heart [7:16] / Warm Valley [5:39].Bill Charlap, piano; Jay Leonhart, bass; Bill Stewart, drums.Now that we're on the same page, my review:Bill Charlap is a classic jazz pianist. Critics from Whitney Balliett to Joseph Hooper have praised Charlap in recent years, and it's all well deserved. Charlap knows intimately the history of jazz piano, and he has clearly assimilated that knowledge into his own unique style.Charlap has recorded for Blue Note, Criss Cross and Chiaroscuro. But in my opinion, his best work has been for Venus Records. "Love You Madly" is this trio's third release for Venus, after "Blues In the Night" and "The Things We Did Last Summer." (Charlap also released " 'S Wonderful" for Venus under his own name, with Peter Washington and Kenny Washington.)"Love You Madly" features an entire program of Duke Ellington's music. In fact, it is less a tribute than a celebration. Never does the music aim to copy Ellington, and neither do the musicians simply blow over the changes. Truly, they play the tunes, and they do so with originality. These three musicians adore Ellington's music, and their love is apparent in their performances.I love this entire disc, but I'll highlight two tracks. "In a Sentimental Mood" took my breath away upon first listen. This is now among my favorite versions of that classic. Charlap's treatment is beautiful. And whoever arranged "C Jam Blues" deserves a raise. It's not unrecognizable, but it's close. The imaginative treatment adopts a deliberately different tone for a tune that is too often simply mugged for its blues changes. This trio succeeds at celebrating Ellington's music, yet they bring their own craftsmanship in full force. They deserve a standing ovation.It's worth adding that engineer Jim Anderson and the rest of the crew did a remarkable job. Charlap's piano is particularly well represented on this recording. Engineering is like lighting for photography: It's nice to have a pretty model, but professional lighting distinguishes true photographs from simple pictures.This CD has only two drawbacks: The price is high, and the liner notes are in Japanese. You can compensate for the latter by digging up the aforementioned articles by Balliett and Hooper. The tunes are Ellington standards which speak for themselves. As for the price: Well, you'll get an hour's worth of music that's better than almost any two CDs you could buy instead. Personally, I'm happy with my purchase, and consider it money well-spent."
Great Duke Ellington selection
Edward Weeks Sager | Sebring, FL USA | 07/24/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Bill Charlap is just a remarkable jazz pianist. His encyclopedic knowledge of the American Songbook takes you to depths and heights you didn't know existed in these familiar favorites. This is one of five so far from the Japanese Venus label with remarkable 24 bit Hyper Magnum Sound. The sensitivity and touch of this music is transcendent. It is a wonderful tribute to the musical genius of Duke Ellington and this will surely give you hours of repeated listening pleasure. Have fun with this one as you enjoy musicians at the top of their form recorded with perfection. On top of it all it's obvious that this trio is able to produce more than the sum of their individual parts as they urge one another on. They really enjoy themselves, too, and have nothing to prove but to just bring their sheer delight in this music to the zenith."
