New York 29

If you can get past the 1940s monaural sound (and if you are not already familiar with this performance, you will get a shock). This is the gentlest, most right sounding rendition I have ever heard. The tempi are uncommonly brisk, though they never sound that way. The third movement has never sounded more beautiful. Halban is perfect in the finale. Walter passed away before he could record this work in stereo. His later performances were very different and I'm still not sure whether or not his later slower tempos and even greater expression were an improvement.

A little more throttle would have been welcome on New York Jazz Quartet's cruising-paced Oasis set from 1981. As it is, Roland Hanna on piano, Frank Wess on tenor sax and flute, George Mraz on bass, and Ben Riley on drums take a low-key approach to two Wess originals and four from Hanna. It's a pleasant session, but not one that lives up to the potential of its lineup. The material is respectable and the quartet knows it well enough, but perhaps not sufficiently to transform written parts into a dynamic group effort. Mraz is the standout performer. He is in command of a ready flow of ideas and is captured with a rich, full sound. His duet with Hanna on the pianist's blues "Funk House" is a highlight that finds the pair expertly working the spaces they give each other…