The Chris Anderson Trio - My Romance (1960) + Inverted Image (1961) 2 LPs On 1 CD
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 448 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 193 Mb | Scans included
Jazz, Hard Bop | Label: Fresh Sound Records | # FSR-CD 688 | Time: 01:18:42
Entirely self-taught, unfazed by blindness and brittle bone disease, Chicago born Chris Anderson (1926-2008) remains a legendary figure among jazz pianists and an acknowledged influence on Herbie Hancock, who studied with him in 1960. Hancock was quick to spread the word among musicians. His teacher, he said, had "a whole other facet of tools of expression and harmonies that I hadn’t heard in Bill Evans," adding that "Chris Anderson is a master of harmony and sensitivity." The reverence in which he is held by jazz musicians was not reflected in anything remotely like wider acclaim, but Anderson’s few recordings are much sought-after gems among those in the know. His first two trio albums, for VeeJay and Riverside/Jazzland, both of which are included here, were made in 1960 and ’61 respectively. They show a very individual and provocative harmonic sense, as distinctive as Thelonious Monk’s or Bill Evans’s, a light but firm and elegant swing, and a delicate balance of the cerebral and the emotional. It gave his music tremendous power to touch the heart and appeal to the intellect at the same time. His was a very special talent.