Steeplechase

Howard McGhee - Just Be There (1976) {SteepleChase SCCD-31204 rel 1994}
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© 1976, 1994 SteepleChase | SCCD-31204
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Other than an album in 1966 and a few isolated numbers in 1970, trumpeter Howard McGhee made no recordings as a leader during 1963-75. In 1976 he started his final three years of recording activity with a date for Sonet and then this obscure effort for Steeplechase. McGhee shows some age in his playing but his crisp sound was still intact as was his bop-oriented style. Recorded in Copenhagen with old friend Kenny Clarke on drums, baritonist Per Goldschmidt, pianist Horace Parlan and bassist Mads Vinding, this set features McGhee performing four of his straightahead originals plus J.J. Johnson's "Wee Dot." The spirit of classic bebop is very much alive on this enjoyable set.

Bud Powell Trio - Budism: Previously Unissued Recordings, Stockholm 1962 (1992) {3CD Set SteepleChase SCCD-30007/9}
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© 1962, 1992 SteepleChase | SCCD-30007/9
Jazz / Bebop / Bop / Piano

Bud Powell's music has often been described as adapting Charlie Parker's bebop style to the piano. Other jazz authorities maintain that Bud was an originator, along with Parker and Gillespie, of the jazz style known as bebop. All agree that Bud is the father of modern jazz piano. Bud was trained in classical music as a child and his classical background plays a role in the harmonic sophistication of his music. He was also intimately familiar with the early jazz piano style known as stride and one can recognize this element, sometimes quite explicitly, in Bud's playing. But the main characteristic of Bud's original piano style is a lightning fast right hand that expresses on the piano what up to Bud's time had only been possible on a horn.

Chet Baker Trio - The Touch of Your Lips (1979) {SteepleChase SCCD 31122 rel 1989}
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© 1979, 1989 SteepleChase ProductionsApS | SCCD 31122
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Standards / Trumpet

This was the perfect setting during his later years. The trumpeter (who also sings on two of the six songs) sounds very relaxed and comfortable while accompanied by the duo of guitarist Doug Raney and bassist Niels Pedersen, taking some consistently lyrical solos on the six standards.

Paul Bley - Indian Summer (1987) {SteepleChase SCCD 31286 rel 1991}
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© 1987, 1991 SteepleChase Productions ApS | SCCD 31286
Jazz / Modern Creative / Post Bop / Piano Trio

The mid-'80s trios for Steeplechase mark a consistent high point in Bley's now capacious output. …It's only really on Indian Summer that one feels the chemistry is just right. This is one of the pianist's periodic blues-based programmes. Engineered by Kazunori Sigiyama, who's responsible for DIW's output, it registers brightly, essential for music which is as softly pitched as much of this is. The high points are Bley's own "Blue Waltz" and an ironic "The More I See You," in which he works through variations in much the same way as he had on Caravan Suite for the same label, reconstructing the melodies rather than simply going through the changes. It's a fine record by any standards, but it stands out prominently among the later trios.

Peter Zak - Down East (2011) {SteepleChase SCCD-31715 rec 2010}
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© 2011 SteepleChase Productions ApS | SCCD 31715
Jazz / Post Bop / Straight-Ahead Jazz / Jazz Piano Trio

Peter Zak has greatly increased his exposure with a series of outstanding CDs for Steeplechase. This trio date with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Rodney Green covers a lot of ground: popular standards, jazz favorites, and infrequently played jazz works. Zak's lyricism is displayed in his treatment of Duke Ellington's 1940s ballad "I Didn't Know About You." The pianist dives full-force into Duke Pearson's "Is That So?" with his lively improvising in a brisk arrangement. Thelonious Monk's "Gallop's Gallop" isn't recorded much at all, but it is one of his most challenging tunes, with multiple twists that the trio negotiate with ease as they deliver a stimulating performance.

Peter Zak - Blues on the Corner: The Music of McCoy Tyner (2007) {SteepleChase SCCD-31672}
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© 2007 SteepleChase | SCCD-31672
Jazz / Post Bop / Straight-Ahead Jazz / Jazz Piano Trio

With his previous releases, pianist Peter Zak has focused on standards and works by a variety of jazz greats. This time around he focuses on McCoy Tyner, a veteran who has written a formidable array of compositions during his long career, though he has rarely, if ever, been the focus of a recorded tribute. Zak makes up for that oversight with this rewarding session, joined by his working trio consisting of longtime bassist Paul Gill and drummer Quincy Davis (the latter also appeared on Seed of Sin). Zak puts his own stamp on each piece, not merely trying to copy Tyner's style (which would be pointless), opening with a snappy take of "Blues on the Corner" that also features his sidemen.

Horace Parlan - Glad I Found You (1986) {SteepleChase SCCD-31194 rec 1984}
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© 1984 SteepleChase | SCCD-31194
Jazz / Hard Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Piano

Expatriate pianist Horace Parlan and a couple of fine Scandinavians (bassist Jesper Lundgaard and drummer Aage Tanggaard) welcome Thad Jones (heard exclusively here on flugelhorn) and the great tenor Eddie Harris to this spirited set. Jones was making a successful, if short-lived comeback, and at two years before his death, this was one of his final high-quality small-group recordings.

Johnny Dyani - Afrika (1983) {SteepleChase SCCD 31186 rel 1992}
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© 1983, 1992 SteepleChase | SCCD 31186
Jazz / Jazz Funk / African Jazz / Bass

For Afrika, South African expatriate bassist Johnny Dyani enlarged his group to a septet from the quartet formation he had used on prior Steeplechase recordings and, in the process, shifted gears slightly from the deeper, beautifully bitter songs that had been his forte (such as "House Arrest" on Mbizo) to a somewhat lighter fare, replete with catchy, skipping melodies and funky electric bass. Something of the township feel, so basic to his work, was also lost by replacing Dudu Pukwana with veteran saxman Charles Davis and by the odd inclusion of steel drums which supply a lilting quality.