Search - Ronnell Bright :: Brights Spot

Good Drummerless Trio

Robert J. Ament | Ballwin, MO United States | 09/06/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

".......reminiscent of the early Nat Cole Trio with Oscar Moore except in this case the guitarist is Kenny Burrell which may be an additional reason for acquiring this!I don't imagine Ronnell Bright is exactly that well known but besides playing an excellent piano (again reminding me of the Cole recordings), there are about 5 albums released under his name. He also is a composer (3 on this set) and has had his compositions recorded by Sarah Vaughn, Horace Silver, Cal Tjader and Blue Mitchell. He also accompanied Sarah Vaughn on a slew of recordings.This recording from 1956 features a nice mixture of bop and mainstream including 3 of the pianist's compositions: "Blue Zepher", a pretty ballad, a medium tempo "Struttin' In" and a bop title tune. All this is more than aided by the fine guitar work of Kenny Burrell. The bassist, Leonard Gaskin, stays in the background throughout the album.If you like the work of the Nat Cole Trio, or the guitar of Kenny Burrell, or just a nice mixture of tunes in a trio setting, you will probably enjoy this cd."