Ray Brown Trio with Ulf Wakenius: Summertime (1998)

Bassist's bassist Ray Brown is inspired and inspiring on Summertime, which finds him in the company of his trio and guest guitarist Ulf Wakenius. Whether it's the addition of Wakenius, new pianist Geoff Keezer, or just the felicitous combination of peerless players and dynamite material, this set easily eclipses Brown's preceding "Live at Sculler's." ~ Ross Boissoneau

Personnel:
Ray Brown (bass);
Geoff Keezer (piano);
Ulf Wakenius (guitar);
Gregory Hutchinson (drums)
Tracklist
1 West Coast Blues 4:41
2 Summertime 6:28
3 Topsy 5:21
4 Yours Is My Heart Alone 4:43
5 It's Only A Paper Moon 7:45
6 My One And Only 7:19
7 Reunion Blues 8:29
8 Watch What Happens 3:24
9 The More I See You 5:05
10 Honeysuckle Rose 7:38
11 Cakes' Blues 4:05
Summertime Ray Brown Trio with Ulf Wakenius
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Ray Brown Trio: Bass Face (1993)

For this Telarc CD, bassist Ray Brown and pianist Benny Green split the solo chores almost evenly with drummer Jeff Hamilton, giving them stellar and creative support. Green has his best improvisations on "Phineas Can Be" and "Taking a Chance on Love," and the trio plays very close attention to dynamics (often swinging very quietly) and quickly reacting to each other's ideas. Rather than merely jamming the songs (the majority of which are standards), the bop-oriented group gives each melody a colorful framework filled with plenty of subtle surprises. ~ Scott Yanow

Personnel: Ray Brown (acoustic bass); Benny Green (piano); Jeff Hamilton (drums). Down Beat (1/94, p.35) - 3 Stars - Good - "...The Brown group sounds settled and sure of its material before a live club crowd...'

Tracklist
1. Milestones (M.Davis) 5:19
2. Bass Face (K.Burrell) 7:24
3. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (Hilliard-Mann) 4:44
4. Tin Tin Deo (W.Fuller) 10:03
5. CRS-Craft (R.Brown) 7:55
6. Taking a Chance on Love (Duke-Fetter) 8:27
7. Remember (I.Berlin) 7:14
8. Makin' Whoopee (Donaldson-Kahn) 7:04
9. Phineas Can Be (R.Brown) 5:55
Bassface / Live at Kuumbawa
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Ray Brown Trio: Some Of My Best Friends Are...Singers (1998) mp3 @ 320K

What does a bass player do when he's recording an album as a leader? Surely not an hour's worth of bass solos! Ray Brown solved the bass player's dilemma with a series of recordings under the Some of My Best Friends Are... heading. This 1998 release is the third in the series, following the earlier Some of My Best Friends Are...Piano Players and Some of My Best Friends Are...Sax Players, and it's a gem. Featuring a sextet of fine vocalists, ranging from the well-established to the unknown, this CD is a class act from beginning to end. The rising jazz vocal superstar of the late '90s, Diana Krall, is showcased to great effect on "I Thought About You" and "Little Boy." Well-established female vocal veterans Etta Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Marlena Shaw deliver superb performances, soulfully giving master lessons in the art of singing. The lone male singer spotlighted here, Kevin Mahogany, wraps his smooth baritone around the ballad "Skylark," and swings gently on "The Party's Over."

The one unknown in this collection is Oregonian Nancy King. This veteran of the San Francisco and Pacific Northwest scenes shows she has a fine way with a ballad on "But Beautiful," and scats her way across the upbeat Brown original "The Perfect Blues," that closes this set. Both of these songs also feature Antonio Hart's alto saxophone. In addition to Brown's trio mates Geoff Keezer and Gregory Hutchinson, musical support includes guitarist Russell Malone on two tracks and tenor saxman Ralph Moore cooking alongside Bridgewater on "Cherokee."
Some Of My Best Friends Are ... Singers