Ray Brown has many great contributions to jazz as a leader and a sideman, but one additional way in which he helped jazz was his encouraging
Gene Harris to give up his early retirement and go back out on the road. The pianist was a part of
Brown's groups for several years before he formed a working quartet and became a leader for good once again. This 1988 concert at a since-defunct Santa Monica night club (co-owned by
Brown) finds the two, along with drummer
Jeff Hamilton, at the top of their game. A phone ringing in the background distracts momentarily from
Brown's opening solo in his composition "The Real Blues," during which
Harris repeats a bluesy tremolo, which may be an inside joke about the early distraction.
Harris take a blues-drenched approach to "Mona Lisa" before giving way to the leader's solo, while his lyrical approach to "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" is shimmering.
Hamilton's soft brushes are prominent in "Little Darlin'," but his explosive playing provides a powerful pulse to the very unusual strutting take of "It Don't Mean a Thing." This extremely satisfying CD is warmly recommended. ~ Ken Dryden