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Place four seasoned and dependable Jazz musicians in a recording studio and they’ll usually find a way to make the idea pay dividends, which is certainly the case on (Mort Weiss Quartet). “We had no rehearsal”, clarinetist Mort Weiss says of his date with organist Joey DeFrancesco’s trio (guitarist Ron Eschete’, drummer Ramon Banda). “We didn’t know what songs we were going to play or the tempos or the keys or the endings. Someone would call a tune, we’d discuss it for a few minutes and would take turns counting them off.” The result is a session that seems informal and spontaneous but far from unrehearsed. Mostly, Weiss and the others sound like they’re having fun and savoring the moment, which they undoubtedly were. Weiss, who we’re told recently came out of musical “retirement”, must have kept his chops in apple-pie order as he has no trouble holding his ground and meshes marvelously with the others. I won’t describe Weiss’s tone “woody” (I’ve never understood what that means) so will say only that he reminds me of Buddy DeFranco or Ken Peplowski and let it go at that. As for DeFrancesco, one knows that any album on which that young firebrand appears is going to swing hard and often. Eschete’ is a wonderful soloist and responsive accompanist, while Banda makes all the right moves without once calling attention to himself, the mark of a world-class drummer. As for the songs, they consist of eight standards (including Franz Lehar’s “Yours Is My Heart Alone”, which should be heard more often) and “Joey’s Blues”, an unpretentious riff no doubt “composed” on the spot by Weiss and DeFrancesco. Everyone is in topnotch form, so much so that one can readily overlook the fact that the solo order (clarinet, guitar, organ, then usually trading fours with Banda) is the same on almost every tune. Admirable clarinet-with-organ-trio albums are almost as rare as snow in the Sahara; this one is definitely worth checking out.
Jack Bowers
Cadence Magazine
September 2003
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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