The Hod O'Brien Trio - Fine and Dandy 

Hod O'Brien was an American jazz pianist born in Chicago in 1936. His family moved to Connecticut and while there he studied at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville. From there he moved onto Oberlin College and The Manhattan School of Music from 1954 to 1957. According to the excellent and thorough liner notes contained in "Fine and Dandy" (compiled by Alun Morgan), "Throughout the late Fifties and early Sixties Hod led small groups of his own, worked in Oscar Pettiford's sextet and became house pianist at the Toten Villa on Staten Island, a long-running gig under under bassist Teddy Kotick's leadership which gave him plenty of opportunities to play with such soloists as Zoot Sims, Bob Brookmeyer and Stan Getz." Hod started recording for the Fresh Sound label in 1998 after meeting with producer Dick Bank. The album being reviewed here was his second effort with Fresh Sounds. On this session, Hod is accompanied by bassist Tom Warrington and drummer Paul Kreibich, two well known and very experienced jazz musicians located on the West Coast of the US. The album itself was recorded over two days (December 19 - 20, 2000) at Entourage Studios in Hollywood. The selection of songs was taken with due care and attention, with all being well regarded compositions by a number of noted composers such as Duke Ellington, Gerry Mulligan and Todd Dameron. The liner notes, which are comprised of an eight page booklet, are exceptionally detailed and very thorough, and deserve mention. The music itself is outstanding, with two of my favourite tracks being "The Squirrel", a blues written by Todd Dameron and "I Waited For You", written by Bob Russell and Dizzy Gillespie. This was one of five cd's I found at a thrift store that were being sold for a dollar each. I hope to review each one. I have already reviewed "So In Love" by Gene DiNovi, and this is my second review.  

      

Gene DiNovi - So In Love

 So In Love - Gene DiNovi

"So In Love" is a compact disc recorded on the Marshmallow label from Japan featuring the highly regarded pianist Gene DiNovi. Gene has been a mainstay on the Canadian jazz scene for many years, after moving to Toronto in the early 1970's. This was a trio album, with two other well known Canadian jazzers helping out. Neil Swainson provides the bottom end on double bass, and Terry Clarke brings his distinctive talents as a drummer to the session. According to the liner notes, (at least the ones in English, the album was manufactured and released in Japan so most of the notes are in Japanese), Gene was a favourite of Mitsuo Johfu, owner of the Marshmallow label and "a jazz enthusiast of impeccable taste and with fine feeling for the music". Gene and Mitsuo worked together collaboratively, with Mitsuo as producer, and released three CD's during the 1990's. A decision was made to record another, and "So In Love" was recorded at Lydian Sound Studio in Richmond Hill Ontario on March 21 & 22, 2001.  This recording was also produced by Mitsuo. The CD has 11 tracks in total with most being standards and Gene contributing three original compositions. Gene mentions in the liner notes that two successive days of recording - 12 hours of concentrated music-making "was very challenging, but very satisfying musically".  Gene also said that while he worked out a few things ahead of time with Neil, otherwise it was straight ahead, and that with "musicians of this calibre, you don't need too much rehearsal. I had the benefit of a 7 foot Yamaha Grand (piano) and a very good recording engineer, so conditions could not have been better". 

My impressions of the recording after listening to it for start to finish were uniformly positive. The piano sound is outstanding, having been brilliantly captured during the recording. The bass and drums mixed perfectly, providing all of the required support, while at the same time complimenting Gene's playing. I particularly enjoyed the trio's rendition of "All Or Nothing At All". 

The CD was released in 2001. The actual packaging is that of a hard cover book with tray inside to hold the disc, and the liner notes attached as pages. the front has a black and white photo of an attractive young lady and the back has a colour photo of Gene, along with information about the recording itself. I actually found this CD along with four others at a thrift store where I paid one dollar each (!) for them. I have no hesitation in recommending this excellent recording.  

 Montreux Alexander

The Monty Alexander Trio Live at the Montreux Festival

The Monty Alexander Trio Live at the Montreux Festival was recorded on June 10, 1976. This particular version is a special limited edition (1000 units) pressed and released for Record Store Day 2024, remastered from the original tapes. The release is on the MPS label (the label the original recording was released on) and the record is on 180 gram vinyl. The reissue was overseen by Dirk Sommer, noted German audio journalist and record producer, with the assistance of master engineer Christoph Stickel. It is apparent a great deal of care and attention went into this project after listening to the record. The sound is outstanding, particularly concerning the piano. The album (mint green coloured vinyl) comes with an insert containing comments from Monty himself, Stefan Franzen and Dirk Sommer. 

The trio that day in July performed at that time was comprised of Monty Alexander (piano), John Clayton (double bass) and Jeff Hamilton (drums). Monty describes the recording as "A magical moment." The trio had been working together for a while (most recently in London, England) and the musical communication is readily apparent. The dynamics, the tightness and the virtuosity is displayed throughout the recording. There is a great deal of detail on the back of the album jacket itself, as well as in the liner notes, about the artists, the song selection for the concert and the reissue. Of the six tracks (all of which are amazing), I really enjoyed "Work Song" and "Battle Hymn Of The Republic" the best. There was no shortage of enthusiasm and energy that day back at the Montreux Festival almost 50 years ago. I'm very happy it is now available in the best vinyl format available.