Harry Likas

After 30 years, this is the reissue of the classic Columbia Masterworks recording from January 1969. It was one of the first commercially produced tapes of a Harry Partch tape performance, and the first opportunity most listeners ever had to hear a large-scale Partch music drama in fine sound.

Trio Records proudly presents a 'live' recording of a quartet featuring the incredible US jazz saxophonist Harry Allen recorded at the Watermill Jazz Club with Italian pianist Andrea Pozza, gifted bassist Simon Woolf and ever popular drummer Steve Brown. Fans of the long linage of the saxophone greats will not be disappointed. Harry Allen can be instantly lined up as a disciple of the late Stan Getz, but he has absorbed far more of the jazz saxophone tradition with elements of Hawkins, Webster, Zoot and Al, and elements from one of his teachers Scott Hamilton. However, Harry Allen's voice is very much his own and as fresh as any on the contemporary scene. With a formidable technique and searing sound Harry Allen continues the tradition of the great saxophonists before him. The material on the CD is a straight blowing set ofjazz standards, a couple of great originals penned by Harry Allen and Judy Carmichael and the theme to Star Trek based on the standard Out Of Nowhere.

Back in 1964, saxophonist Stan Getz made one of those perfect albums. He teamed up with famed Brazilian songwriters and guitarists, Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, and delivered one of the best records in his career: Gezt/Gilberto (Verve, 1964). The combination of the wistfully vibrant bossa nova and the sensual saxophone sound of Getz proved to be irresistible. History has a way of repeating itself and now it is time for yet another crucial meeting between a group of Brazilian musicians and an American saxophonist. Harry Allen could be considered one of the most prominent heirs to the sound of Getz, so it was only a matter of time before he would find the ideal partner to make an album with a perfect Brazilian sound. In fact, his partner found him. In the elaborate notes to the album Something About Jobim, producer and bassist, Rodolfo Stroeter, tells the story of the album. When his good friend, record producer Søren Friis of Stunt Records, gave him a bunch of records to listen to, one of them especially caught his attention.

An actor, humanitarian, and the acknowledged "King of Calypso," Harry Belafonte ranked among the most seminal performers of the postwar era. One of the most successful African-American pop stars in history, Belafonte's staggering talent, good looks, and masterful assimilation of folk, jazz, and worldbeat rhythms allowed him to achieve a level of mainstream eminence and crossover popularity virtually unparalleled in the days before the advent of the civil rights movement – a cultural uprising which he himself helped spearhead.

Harry Connick, Jr.'s vocals perfectly fit the moods throughout the 1989 Billy Crystal film When Harry Met Sally. This soundtrack album (which stands apart from the movie) was a big hit and a major step forward for the young pianist-vocalist, although it appears to have been the high point of his career. Connick warmly sings such numbers as "It Had to Be You," "Our Love Is Here to Stay," "But Not for Me," and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," while usually accompanied by bassist Benjamin Wolfe, drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, and a big band. Frank Wess' warm tenor makes a brief appearance on "Our Love Is Here to Stay." In addition, there are a few melodic instrumentals, including some solo Connick piano on "Winter Wonderland" and "Autumn in New York." Highly recommended.