Time and time again, the Manhattan Bop Police have claimed that a jazz album isn't legitimate unless it is recorded in the 212 area code. But if that's true, why did so many jazz heavyweights -- from
Dexter Gordon to
Bud Powell -- spend so much time living and recording in Europe? Why have so many important jazz indies (Steeplechase, Storyville, Owl, Black Lion, Timeless, among countless others) had European addresses? The fact is that if you're a serious jazz connoisseur, your CD collection is probably full of recordings that were made in Europe.
Ray Brown certainly spent plenty of time performing overseas; Ludwigsburg, Germany, in fact, is where
Brown recorded
Summerwind, a 1980 session that finds the acoustic bassist forming a quartet with tenor saxophonist
Johnny Griffin (one of the reasons jazz musicians are proud to be from Chicago), pianist
Monty Alexander, and British drummer
Martin Drew. This hard-swinging combination of American, Jamaican, and British improvisers enjoys a strong rapport on a diverse program that ranges from
Ray Charles' "Hard Times" to pianist
John Lewis' "Delaunay's Dilemma" to the title track (a song that is closely identified with
Frank Sinatra). The inclusion of a song associated with
Ol' Blue Eyes should come as no surprise to admirers of
Alexander, who has never made a secret of his passion for
Sinatra's legacy. Nor has
Alexander made a secret of his love of R&B; one of the highlights of this CD is a piano trio performance of
the Crusaders' "Street Life" (which
Griffin is absent from). Although
the Crusaders are primarily an instrumental jazz group, they enjoyed a major R&B hit in 1979 when they featured singer
Randy Crawford on "Street Life"; on
Summerwind, however, the tune works nicely as an acoustic bop/soul-jazz instrumental. This rewarding CD is well worth searching for. ~ Alex Henderson