Sidecar Racers (1975) Earl Bellamy, Ben Murphy, Wendy Hughes, John Clayton

This live Boston summit meeting between Ray Brown, Christian McBride and John Clayton was the logical outcome of several joint appearances, as well as an extension of a one-off bass troika track that McBride included on his first solo album. The idea of a bass trio on records probably would have been unthinkable in the primitive days of recording when Brown was coming up, but Telarc's fabulously deep yet clear engineering makes it seem like a natural thing to do. Whether pizzicato or bowed, whether taking the melodic solo or plunking down the 4/4 bottom line, all three perform with amazing panache, taste, humor, lack of ego, and the sheer joy of talking to and against each other beneath the musical staff.

Pianist & composer Gerald Clayton explores the impact and abstraction of time on his ravishing 2nd Blue Note album Bells On Sand, which features contributions from mentor Charles Lloyd on saxophone, father John Clayton on bass, longtime friend and peer Justin Brown on drums, and new collaborator MARO on vocals. “Each musician on the record represents a different aspect of the axis of time and its shifting sands,” says Clayton. “My father and Charles Lloyd, who has been a mentor figure to me, reflect new permutations of my past, and the lineage of elders who have shaped my development; Justin Brown, being my contemporary and musical brother, represents my present; and MARO represents the future—she is part of the next generation, and points to a brand new collaboration.” The music includes new originals, pieces by Catalan composer Federico Mompou and Gerald’s uncle Jeff Clayton, as well as two stunning solo piano versions of the standard “My Ideal.”

Frank Sinatra, though not a jazz singer, was long respected by jazz musicians for his natural ability to get the best out of a song while developing a trademark approach to singing that had great appeal. While many recorded tributes to Sinatra since his death have been abysmal at best, vocalist and guitarist John Pizzarelli knows a little something about swinging and finding the essence of each song. Backed by the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, with whom Pizzarelli toured prior to the making of this CD, along with arrangements by John Clayton, Don Sebesky, Dick Lieb, and Quincy Jones, he sought to focus primarily on songs written with Sinatra in mind, though taking new approaches to each of them.

In the liner notes to the initial CD SuperBass, Ray Brown assured that the next SuperBass release would be twice as good. He lives up to the promise, as he and John Clayton are joined by the young bass sensation Christian McBride this time. Although Brown is the senior statesman of the trio and hatched the conception of SuperBass, all three men equally share the solos, as well as the arranging and choosing of songs. Brown's contributions include a trio of imaginatively arranged, time-tested standards from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess as well as the group's lively signature theme and the campy "Taco With a Pork Chop" (which adds percussionists George Gludas and Larry Fuller). McBride's chart of "Get Happy" is a delightful swinger, while his pulsating rendition of the Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" is a definite crowd pleaser that inspires the audience to sing along…