Cry Me A River

Dexter Gordon - Cry Me a River (1990) {SteepleChase SCCD 36004 rec 1962-1964}
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© 1962-64, 1990 SteepleChase | SCCD 36004
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone

This CD contains two separate European sessions taken from radio broadcasts. Tenor-saxophonist Dexter Gordon, who had just moved to Europe, is heard on lengthy versions of "I'll Remember April" and "Cry Me a River" from 1962 with a Danish trio comprised of pianist Atli Bjorn, bassist Marcel Rigot and drummer Williams Schiopffe. The two 1964 numbers ("The Thrill Is Gone" and "Suite") are by Bjorn's 1964 trio with bassist Benny Nielsen and drummer Finn Frederiksen; the talented pianist is well-showcased.

Cry me a regret that no one has yet stepped up to fill the sultry vocal gap left when Julie London passed on. Her unique style was a mix of languid phrasing and a smoky alto voice unfortunately fueled by cigarettes. Laura Taylor, a Vegas-based performer, comes close to London's sound. With tasteful accompaniment by guitarist Joe Lano and bassist Tom Warrington, London's takes on the title track and on "Blue Moon" are nearly as evocative as those of her model. A little more rasp in her whisper would have left London's bridges falling down and Taylor as the new fair lady.

The fourth volume in Verve's Verve Remixed series was a long time in coming considering how quickly the label spit out the first three. Nonetheless, it is a welcome addition to that shelf if remixes are your personal thang. This set concentrates, once more, on vocalists, and the array is rather startling on the surface, though it's sequenced beautifully. As with any of these packages some cuts work better than others, but there are some true highlights here. Marlena Shaw's reading of Ashford & Simpson's "California Soul" is given a killer treatment by Diplo and Mad Decent, keeping the entire thing rooted in its source material and stretching it with judiciously added bits of early funk, Ramsey Lewis-style soul-jazz, and hip-hop…

Even before the first KuschelRock album, Kuschelrock was named as a weekly nightly music program for HR3 radio station (HR3 broadcasts from Frankfurt, Germany), the author and host of this project was Thomas Koschwitz, who is considered to be the co-author of a number of albums in Kazle … After Sony Music patented the right to release a series of albums called "KuschelRock", the HR3 radio station can no longer air this night music show … And now Sony Music regularly releases every year on the album …

Record dates made by American jazz musicians for the Japanese jazz market are often a bit different in their approach. These 2006 sessions, recorded by Ken Peplowski over two days with pianist Ted Rosenthal, bassist Gary Mazzaroppi, and drummer Jeff Brillinger, are unusual in that ten standards (all ballads) are featured, though with the leader playing one version on tenor sax, then immediately following it with another on clarinet. The players are capable enough in varying the approach to each tune with the different instrumentation, with Peplowski's smoky tenor and lyrical clarinet satisfying the listener each time. But one would bet that most listeners would rather have this two-CD set programmed with one disc devoted to each instrument, rather than hearing each song twice in a row…

One of the more notorious albums in the history of vocal music, What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! is the lush session that bumped up Dinah Washington from the "Queen of the Blues" to a middle-of-the-road vocal wondress – and subsequently disenfranchised quite a few jazz purists…

Recent cuts showing that organist Jack McDuff can still stomp through bluesy wailers, pound the bass pedals, and lead a hot combo through funky, exuberant numbers. He's heading a group with former band members like guitarist George Benson and drummer Joe Dukes, plus saxophonist Red Holloway, guitarist Ron Esche and Phil Upchurch, among others.