Search - Pat Moran :: Whiat Birdland (24bt) (Mlps)

Last call

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 12/19/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Thank goodness someone thought well enough of these Bethlehem vinyls to come out with this two-CD package. Better pick it up fast. No guarantee additional copies will materialize once this supply is exhausted.



The program is actually a three-part affair: grooving piano trio numbers by Pat Moran, freshly spun vocals by Bev Kelly (she sounds better to me here than on her Riverside albums), tightly harmonized four-part vocals featuring the two women and two men.



Pat Moran was, and possibly still is, a major talent, a swinging jazz pianist whose talents were not lost on the likes of Terry Gibbs, Scott LaFaro, and Ira Sullivan, all with whom she played extensively (good luck finding the recordings). As for the music of the quartet, like so many versatile, talented performers who drew their inspiration from the "American Songbook," this foursome arrived just a bit too late--about the same time as Elvis and several years ahead of the Beetles--and consequently paid the price for a tardiness that was no fault of their own."