Dick Oatts - Standard Issue, Vol. 2

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:24
Size: 136,7 MB
Art: Front

(12:47) 1. Stella by Starlight
(13:42) 2. On Green Dolphin Street
(16:20) 3. Love Thy Neighbor
( 3:46) 4. Moonlight in Vermont
(12:47) 5. You Stepped out of a Dream

During his long career, saxophonist Dick Oatts has been a capable sideman on many important dates. On this follow-up to his earlier Steeplechase CD, he explores familiar standards in live jams recorded between 1997 and 1999; with one exception, all of these tracks are extended blowing sessions. Starting off on alto sax, accompanied by bassist Dave Santoro and drummer James Oblon, Oatts' tone is soft during his initial choruses in "Stella By Starlight" before cutting loose with a driving solo; his reworking of the venerable chestnut "On Green Dolphin Street" is a treat. Pianist Harold Danko joins the trio for the last three songs, and Oatts switches to tenor sax for "Love Thy Neighbor," a great standard that had fallen somewhat out of favor among jazz musicians in the final decades of the 20th century. Oatts is every bit as accomplished on the larger instrument, with a fat, confident tone, while Danko's chops are also never in question. Following a rather brief but wild take of "Moonlight in Vermont" with Oatts back on alto, the CD wraps with a thorough workout of "You Stepped out of a Dream." ~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/standard-issue-vol-2-mw0000969599

Personnel: Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Dick Oatts; Bass – Dave Santoro; Drums – James Oblon; Piano – Harold Danko

Standard Issue, Vol. 2

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Jeremy Pelt - The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 1

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:23
Size: 120,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:54) 1. Love Is Simple
(7:17) 2. Little Girl Blue
(6:02) 3. Always on My Mind
(4:01) 4. I've Just Seen Her
(4:36) 5. Then I'll Be Tired of You
(6:48) 6. Ebony Moonbeams
(5:52) 7. While You Are Gone
(8:02) 8. Ab-o-lutely
(3:47) 9. I'll Never Stop Loving You

Jeremy Pelt needed to get some years behind him before he could make an album like The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 1. Like many young lions, the trumpeter spent his early years spitting fire and chasing after ideas to see what stuck: most comfortable in post-bop and modal settings, with the usual suspects Miles, Hubbard, et al serving as his guiding light, he also ventured into spacious, orchestral creations, funk and electronically augmented jams, always adventurous, often audacious.

Pelt long ago proved his chops, versatility, and willingness to step out where he hadn’t before 2019’s The Artist was anchored by a multi-part suite inspired by Rodin’s sculptures but never has he taken such a deep, long breath and simply played it so cool, as he does here. What makes The Art of Intimacy so surprising is its deliberate lack of sparks, its soft, rounded edges: At 43, Pelt (who self-produced) has made the least encumbered recording of his career, a low-key, drummerless trio session, consisting primarily of ballads, most of them standards, that virtually defines the phrase “mellow jazz.”

You couldn’t have chosen better partners for this venture than pianist George Cables and bassist Peter Washington, both older gentlemen who ooze mellifluousness and sensitivity in their playing. On tracks like Rodgers and Hart’s “Little Girl Blue” and Yarburg/Schwartz’s “Then I’ll Be Tired of You,” the trio’s mutual respectfulness is omnipresent, as much in the open spaces as in their measured, deftly navigated interactions. Of the few original compositions, both Pelt’s opening “Love Is Simple” and his co-write with Washington, “Ab-o-lutely” (which Cables sits out), manage to say much with little. The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 1 is a warm, welcoming, familiar blanket bring on volume two.~ Jeff Tamarkin https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/jeremy-pelt-the-art-of-intimacy-vol-1-highnote/

The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 1

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