Roy Haynes

This is undoubtedly one of the best straightahead jazz records of the 1990s. It is a crowning achievement for drum legend Roy Haynes, who emerged as a bandleader relatively late in his career. Together with tenor saxophonist Craig Handy, pianist David Kikoski, and bassist Ed Howard, Haynes explores time-honored standards as well as bop and post-bop classics. The truly outstanding tracks are Chick Corea's awe-inspiring "Steps," Thelonious Monk's catchy "Bye Ya," the Miles Davis bop vehicle "Sippin' at Bells," and a greasy, in-the-pocket reading of "I Thought About You." Bookending the album are two traditional tunes: "Brown Skin Girl," made famous by Harry Belafonte, and "Anniversary," a traditional melody associated with Al Jolson. Both tracks feature Kikoski on electric piano, an unexpected touch that makes for delicious icing on the cake. An unforgettable record.

Roy Haynes has had a long career, and the generically titled The Roy Haynes Trio featuring Danilo Perez and John Patitucci is a long CD, approaching 70 minutes, that attempts to recap that career in the form of new performances and, to a surprising extent, succeeds. The drummer had just turned 74 when this album was released, and had been recording since the 1940s. He took the opportunity of this collection with a new trio, which contained both studio and live recordings, to look back over that period by choosing tunes associated with many of the musicians he had worked with over the years. His tenure in Bud Powell's Modernists septet was recalled in the opening number, Powell's "Wail," which also served the purpose of establishing right off the bat that Haynes was still drumming with his usual power and aggressiveness…

Here you have three absolutely breathtaking jazz performers locked into a studio for a day or so. From this combination of guitar, standup bass, and acoustic drum kit, you've got nine tracks of sheer jazz joy – three guys just blowing for the hell of it, recorded on the fly. There's a strong sense here that engineer Rob Eaton probably tried to get everybody properly set up and balanced before the session started and just gave up when everybody started playing. It's a delight to hear, because everything has gone into the performance, which is spontaneous and graceful – no going back for the next take here. Pat Metheny's playing is definitely modernistic, highly fluid, almost liquid lightning – no effects boxes here, though (he does play Synclavier on the last track, "Three Flights Up," but it's great anyway). Roy Haynes, likewise, should be heard by anybody wanting to get behind the traps: this man has a sense of humor, and he's a blur of motion. Dave Holland, on bass, is no slouch either, keeping pace with Metheny's guitar lines, and balancing up against Haynes' drums. Together, these guys are incredible.

Most of drummer Roy Haynes' dates as a leader put the focus on a star soloist. For this CD reissue, Haynes is joined by pianist Ronnie Mathews, bassist Larry Ridley, and the great tenor Booker Ervin. Ervin's unique sound, soulful yet very advanced, is well showcased on "Under Paris Skies" and originals by Mathews, Haynes, and Randy Weston ("Sketch of Melba"), along with his own "Scoochie."

There's rare and then there are records like this: a limited vinyl release in Japan in 1975 that's never been reissued anywhere else in any format since. Perhaps that's not completely surprising, though: to be frank, it feels like something of a footnote to the career of the illustrious Haynes, which began almost 30 years earlier in the first full blast of be-bop. Here, electric piano and a twanging, slightly-too-high-in-the-mix bass guitar nod towards the fusion that was fashionable at the time: ‘Azteca’ is an up-tempo latin original with blazing hi-hat; while the title track (subtitled ‘Bullfight’) is a slightly corny Iberian-flavoured foxtrot. The two standards hint at Haynes's roots: ‘Tin Tin Deo’ is a leisurely vamp, and ‘Dear Old Stockholm’ is a trio with Nakamura sitting out and Barron switching to acoustic piano. It sounds exactly like what it is: a laid back jam session. And why not?

We Three, recorded in a single session on November 14, 1958, was the first American studio date as a bandleader for the diminutive and legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes, although with pianist Phineas Newborn on board (along with bassist Paul Chambers), it really is a set dominated by Newborn, whose busy, two-handed technique here works in tandem balance with Haynes' cool refinement. Newborn was all about amazing and dazzling piano runs that on some dates created simply too much flash and clutter to allow pieces to flow and breathe properly, but Haynes has always been about grace and flow throughout his career (if a drummer's style can said to be elegant, Haynes fits the bill), and here he rubs off on Newborn, who exercises just enough restraint to keep him in the proper orbit, resulting in a fine album…

Out of the Afternoon is a splendid sounding 1962 set from the Roy Haynes Quartet - which, at the time, consisted of Haynes, Henry Grimes on bass, Tommy Flanagan on piano, and Roland Kirk on saxes, manzello, stritch, and flutes. The album is a delightful mix of techniques in arrangement and performance, with all of the musicians delivering terrific work. Haynes' drumming is absolutely wonderful here, lightly dancing around the other instruments; Flanagan's piano playing is equally light and delicate; Grimes' bass work is outstanding (during "Raoul" you have a chance to hear one of the few bowed bass solos on records of that era); and there's no more to be said about Kirk's sax and flute work that hasn't been said a hundred times, apart from the fact that the flute solos on "Snap Crackle" help this cut emerge as particularly outstanding.