J.R. Monterose & Tommy Flanagan - A Little Pleasure

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1981
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:20
Size: 106,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:10)  1. Never Let Me Go
(5:43)  2. Pain and Suffering...and a Little Pleasure
(5:30)  3. Con Alma
(5:04)  4. Central Park West
(3:12)  5. Vinnie's Pad
(9:07)  6. Theme for Ernie
(7:30)  7. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
(2:58)  8. Twelve Tone Tune

A Little Pleasure is a reunion of sorts for pianist Tommy Flanagan and saxophonist J.R. Monterose, who first recorded together on a stellar 1959 quartet date titled The Message. Here, the pair tackles six fairly obscure repertoire pieces and two of the saxophonist’s originals. It's also Monterose’s first appearance on soprano sax; he’s mostly known as a formidable tenorman. It’s a tense recording in some ways Flanagan’s light touch and pastoral outlines, while loose, are somewhat about-faced from Monterose’s bullish, hard-edged approach, such as on their rendition of “Theme for Ernie.” Yet it’s a tension that creates great jazz; when the pair hits a unison volley, it’s thrilling. The most basic lyricism comes when Monterose switches to soprano, as he does on the title track and “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square,” with the pianist’s lush chords outlining a reedy quaver. The pairing of these two often-unheralded masters is a fine one. With little of Monterose’s output in print, A Little Pleasure is certainly well worth investigating. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-little-pleasure/id400721259

Personnel: J.R. Monterose (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Tommy Flanagan (piano).

A Little Pleasure

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