DARRYL HALL: "Subtle Touch" (EAR-1046)
WEBB T's FLEET: "Live at Zanzibar Blue" (EAR-1047)
After spending several years in Europe and NYC collaborating with various major jazz artists, 1995 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition first-place award-winning bassist Darryl Hall unveils a debut CD of original music. Bringing a melodic resonance to the ears of the listener, "Subtle Touch" displays a versatility through solo and duo to trio and quartet settings. Violinist Megumi Okura, Sam Newsome (soprano sax), pianist Jim Ridl and drummer Steve Hass realize Darryl's vision with swing and soul.
"In The Near" / "From The Source" / "Subtle Touch" / "Urban Folk Song" / "Eine Minute" / "Calm On The Prairie" / "One Of Us" / "Tricotism" / "From The Source"
What the critics say:
"Winner of the 1995 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition on bass, Hall’s vision
is one that is unlike that of many bassists in his style of composition,
his choice of instrumentation and his role as a bassist. While he’s
certainly capable of--and in fact excels in--the expectation of the
bassist as time-keeper and the propulsive foundation for a jazz group,
Hall seems to prefer an investigation of cultures and an inviting appeal
to the listener to consider the thoughts he presents.
Pianist Jim Ridl, who has performed numerous times with Hall and who can
metamorphose into a musical tidal wave when the need arises, blends in
with the overriding concept to sensitively accompany and
enlarge the harmonic intentions of Hall’s compositions...
Hall is accomplishing a melodic and evocative, albeit unconventional,
tunesmithing, as violinist Megumi Okura states the theme in sonorous
beauty without embellishment or vibrato.
The two Hall dedications on the album take quite different directions. His
tribute to mentor and inspiration, Gerald Price, 'Subtle Touch,' features
an emotional outpouring in arco as Ridl and Newsome subtly fill out the
heartfelt remembrance of friendships past. Yet, Hall takes the opposite
approach in his dedication to Oscar Pettiford, a pizzacato-ed and
bass-slapping and loping frolic that sounds nothing like Pettiford’s
rendition with Lucky Thompson and yet that remains true to the
good-natured temperament of the fraternity of jazz bassists.
Hall has chosen a road less taken, and
for that reason succeeds as an original voice on the bass whose engaging
style puts the listener at ease with assurance and grace." - Jazz News
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"eine minute" (831 KB)
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Drummer Webb Thomas leads an all-star quartet (guitarist Monnette Sudler, organist Kyle Koehler, and Julian Pressley on alto saxophone) in an incendiary program of five standards, classics by Herbie Hancock, Cedar Walton, Horace Silver and Cedar Walton, plus an original track, recorded live.
"Watermelon Man" / "Ugetsu" / "Love Vibrations" / "Why Not" / "Founding Fathers" / "This Here" / "Founding Fathers"
Reviews coming soon!
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to a WEBB T's FLEET Sound Sample:
"Founding Fathers" (937
KB)
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"Watermelon Man" / "Ugetsu" / "Love Vibrations" / "Why Not" / "Founding Fathers" / "This Here" / "Founding Fathers"
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