West Side Story

Bobby Broom - Upper West Side Story (2012) {Origin Records 82617}
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© 2012 Bobby Broom / Origin Records | Origin 82617
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Guitar

One of the top guitarists of his generation, Bobby Broom's preferred setting is a small group, while he excels in the demanding trio setting with bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Kobie Watkins (with Makaya McCraven replacing him on three songs). Upper West Side Story includes nine originals, none of which is likely to become a jazz standard, but all of which are stimulating. "D's Blues" has an engaging hard bop hook that pulls the listener in immediately, while "Upper West Side Story" suggests a walk in Manhattan on a breezy spring day, with an infectious Latin undercurrent.

Music from West Side Story is a 1986 compilation album by Dave Brubeck and his quartet of music from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim musical West Side Story, with other tracks taken from Brubeck's albums Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein (1960) and Anything Goes: The Music of Cole Porter (1966) and My Favorite Things (1965).
"Maria" done as a swinging, uptempo ballad, while "Tonight" becomes a jumping-off point for all concerned into a jazz excursion across several decades' worth of tunes. By contrast, "What Is This Thing Called Love?" is done in a slow, pensively lyrical, lilting fashion. Paul Desmond's playing shines every bit as much as Brubeck's, and the whole record - including the Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart material - swings in some unexpected directions that still delight five-plus decades later.

Bill Baron - West Side Story Bossa Nova (1963) {Dauntless DC 6004 rel 2004}
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© 1963, 2004 Dauntless / Fresh Sound Records | DC 6004
Jazz / Hard Bop / Bossa Nova / Saxophone

This electrifying bossa nova version of ten great songs from the West Side Story admirably showcases Bill Barron's triple-threat talent as soloist, arranger, and leader. Bill's relaxed, long-lined solos on tenor saxophone confirm him as a member of that school of "hard-nosed" lyricism wich includes Miles Davis, Stan Getz and Bill Evans.

The last of a series of showtune albums recorded by the trio of pianist Andre Previn, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Shelly Manne finds the all-star group focusing on the music of West Side Story (Previn and Manne alternated leadership, and it was the drummer's good fortune to have the famous My Fair Lady album under his own name). This CD reissue has eight of the main themes from the famous musical, including "I Feel Pretty," "Maria" and "America." As usual, the melodies are treated respectfully yet swingingly, and Andre Previn in particular excels in this setting.

West Side Story was a bit of an unusual session for several reasons. First, the popularity of both the Broadway musical and the film version that followed meant that there were many records being made of its music. Second, rather than woodshed on the selections prior to entering the studio, the Oscar Peterson Trio spontaneously created impressions of the musical's themes on the spot. "Something's Coming" seems like a series of vignettes, constantly shifting its mood, as if moving from one scene to the next. Ray Brown plays arco bass behind Peterson in the lovely "Somewhere," while the feeling to "Jet Song" is very hip in the trio's hands. The snappy interplay between the musicians in the brisk setting of "Tonight" turns it into a swinger. "Maria" initially has a light, dreamy quality, though it evolves into a solid groove…

This new West Side Story, the first American-based recording to appear since DG’s star-studded 1985 composer-conducted version, blessedly avoids that earlier production’s operatic pretensions, returning instead to the work’s Broadway roots by using young, theatrically trained singers with some genuine acting ability. Even with that, it’s probably wishful thinking to expect that this cast (fine as it is) can recreate the vibrant, raw freshness and scintillating brilliance of the original. Mike Eldred’s Tony comes off best; singing with a more mature sound than Larry Kert, he nonetheless creates a sense of heightened expectancy and wonder in “Something’s Coming”.