Anthony Wonsey

Originally released in Japan in 1995, this is pianist Anthony Wonsey's debut as a leader. On Anthonyology, the Chicago native enlists the services of bassist Christian McBride and drummer Carl Allen to perform three originals, three standards, and four jazz compositions. Only 24 at the time of this recording, Wonsey doesn't dazzle with technique, but displays lyricism and soulfulness in the tradition of influences Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, and Mulgrew Miller, while McBride and Allen, two-thirds of pianist Benny Green's trio during the early '90s, offer solid support. Favorites include up-tempo versions of McCoy Tyner's "Inception" and Clifford Brown's "Daahoud"; a swinging version of Wynton Kelly's rarely played "Temperance"; and Wonsey's "Hey Jimmy," a relaxed swinger named for a Boston cab driver who taught Wonsey some of Bud Powell's music. This is a delightful debut from a fine young musician.

Donald Harrison - Nouveau Swing (1997) {Impulse! IMPD-209}
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© 1997 Impulse! / GRP Records | IMPD-209
Jazz / Post Bop / Saxophone

On his Impulse! Records debut, Donald Harrison mixes his usual straight-ahead work with rhythmic elements from tropical climates. Albert Wonsey plays appropriate piano on all tracks, though Harrison employs two different rhythm sections, Christian McBride and Carl Allen for the more conventional tunes and Ruben Rogers and Dion Parson for the others. The others include "Bob Marley," twhich borrows its rhythmic feel from such later Marley songs as "Exodus"; "Little Flowers," which also has a Caribbean lilt; "Septembro," the requisite samba; and "Duck's Groove," the requisite New Orleans second-line number.

Only 22 at the time of this CD, Nicholas Payton had already quickly developed into a major trumpeter. Possessing a fat tone that is sometimes reminiscent of Freddie Hubbard, by the mid-'90s Payton had become New Orleans' latest significant contribution to jazz. On his second Verve release, Payton interprets and modernizes ten songs associated with his hometown and/or Louis Armstrong. Fortunately, Payton generally retains the flavor and joy of the original versions, even while he transforms much of the music into hard bop. To cite a few examples, "Whoopin' Blues" has parade rhythms, send-offs worthy of Lionel Hampton, and boppish solos, "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans" is taken as a slow and lightly swinging ballad, and "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" is turned into a jazz waltz…

By the last years of the 1990s, Nicholas Payton's trumpet-playing and leadership abilities were growing in leaps and bounds in live performance. However, the valedictory record of that decade displays growth only in the former and mostly caution in the latter, for Payton remains staunchly committed to the neo-bop verities and ceremonies. Part of the problem is that Payton's material - he contributes ten of the 13 tracks - is still not terribly memorable by and large, although he may be developing a distinctive talent for naming tunes…

Carmen Lundy has that rare combination of qualities found in great jazz singers: imagination, a superb sense of swing phrasing and improvisation, a broad vocal range with powerful lungs, and a sure grasp of jazz tradition. This Is … features not only Lundy's voice, but also her songwriting, another of her talents. While her lyrics are not always as clever as her music, with its challenging turnarounds and charged interplay, Lundy's baring of her life experiences makes This Is … a record you can sink your ears into. Her band, including brother Curtis Lundy on bass, drummer Ralph Peterson, pianist Anthony Wonsey, and saxophonists Mark Shim and Bobby Watson, can sometimes sound tentative and they are ill-supported by a diaphanous mix. But Carmen and her songs are the stars.

Allen's a decent though hardly extraordinary mainstream drummer who here leads an all-star neo-bop contingent in a set of standards and originals. Nothing surprising about the general conservatism of the date, given the personnel – Vincent Herring on alto sax, Nicholas Payton on trumpet, and Cyrus Chestnut on organ, to name a few. There's also nothing in particular wrong with the music, which is heartily played and deeply felt. Nothing, that is, except for the fact that it's covering ground that's been pretty much trampled into dust. It's a pleasant-enough listen, however, and since Cannonball Adderley isn't around to make albums like this anymore, maybe it's a good thing that musicians like these are. On the other hand, as long as guys like Johnny Griffin, Joe Henderson, and Phil Woods still walk the planet, the need is somewhat diminished.