Linda Lou Paget

Mary Lou Williams spent a fair amount of time in Europe in the early '50s, prior to a temporary hiatus from jazz. This CD from Verve's Jazz in Paris series compiles two separate sessions from 1954; one features a trio, a quintet, and a pair of vocals by blues singer Beryl Bryden, and the other is purely a trio. All of the selections are fairly brief, with only one running over three-and-a-half minutes. The first 11 songs are a bit of a mixed bag. The strongest tracks feature Williams alone ("I Made You Love Paris" and her "Club Francais Blues") or with her trio ("Avalon," "Swingin' for the Guys," and "Memories of You"). Weaker are the four tracks with trumpeter Nelson Williams and tenor saxophonist Ray Lawrence, who aren't up to the playing level of horn players who typically worked with the pianist, though bassist Buddy Banks somewhat makes up for their shortcomings by contributing an enjoyable original ("Leg'n Lou") and a strong solo…

On paper, it's unlikely that one of rock's greatest singers ever, who fronted one of the biggest mainstream bands of the 1970s and 1980s, would take a detour into the world of Christian rock. But that's just what Lou Gramm did in 2009 with his new group and its self-titled album, The Lou Gramm Band. It's his first "solo" effort since 1989's Long Hard Look. The album rocks convincingly, and the lyrics vividly reflect his born-again Christian faith. It's a miracle that the ex-Foreigner vocalist lived to reach this point. After surviving surgery to remove a benign brain tumor in 1997, he struggled to regain his health and his voice. He left Foreigner for the second time in 2002 and eased back into performing with his own band, which now includes two of his brothers, bass guitarist Richard Gramm and drummer Ben Gramm, as well as guitarist Don Mancuso and keyboardist Andy Knoll.

Lou Gramm had been recording with Rochester, New York based band, Black Sheep, since the early 1970s. Releasing two LPs for Capitol, Lou Gramm met his future bandmate and songwriting partner Mick Jones in 1975 when Black Sheep opened for Spooky Tooth in Rochester. Mick Jones was looking for a singer for his new band in 1976, and Black Sheep having split at the end of 1975, Lou was free to audition for Mick’s new group, Foreigner. Releasing their self-titled album on Atlantic Records in 1977, and featuring solid gold rock classics as ‘Cold As Ice’ and ‘Feels Like The First Time’, Foreigner were an instant worldwide smash. Going from strength to strength, the band hit a commercial peak in 1984 with the “Agent Provocateur” album and the chart topping power ballad, ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’.

Mary Lou Williams spent a fair amount of time in Europe in the early '50s, prior to a temporary hiatus from jazz. This CD from Verve's Jazz in Paris series compiles two separate sessions from 1954; one features a trio, a quintet, and a pair of vocals by blues singer Beryl Bryden, and the other is purely a trio. All of the selections are fairly brief, with only one running over three-and-a-half minutes. The first 11 songs are a bit of a mixed bag. The strongest tracks feature Williams alone ("I Made You Love Paris" and her "Club Francais Blues") or with her trio ("Avalon," "Swingin' for the Guys," and "Memories of You"). Weaker are the four tracks with trumpeter Nelson Williams and tenor saxophonist Ray Lawrence, who aren't up to the playing level of horn players who typically worked with the pianist, though bassist Buddy Banks somewhat makes up for their shortcomings by contributing an enjoyable original ("Leg'n Lou") and a strong solo…

Really beautiful later work from the great Mary Lou Williams - and one of the key records that shows just how much she'd evolved as a player since the early days! Part of the strength of the record is the rhythm work from Buster Williams on bass and Mickey Roker on drums - slightly more contemporary players who open up with a sense of warmth that Williams can't help but address - still work on the keyboard of the piano that's very much her own, and touched with the modern elements of her early days - but wonderfully sensitive in all the right ways, a richness that's perfect for the spiritual jazz generation of the 70s.

Really beautiful later work from the great Mary Lou Williams - and one of the key records that shows just how much she'd evolved as a player since the early days! Part of the strength of the record is the rhythm work from Buster Williams on bass and Mickey Roker on drums - slightly more contemporary players who open up with a sense of warmth that Williams can't help but address - still work on the keyboard of the piano that's very much her own, and touched with the modern elements of her early days - but wonderfully sensitive in all the right ways, a richness that's perfect for the spiritual jazz generation of the 70s.