Search - Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, Johnny Griffin :: Summerwind

Nicely introduces a longtime jazz partnership

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 06/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off, I've never heard of the label Kingston World. Since Monty Alexander is Jamaican, one wonders if it's some kind of home-grown label. But then the performance rights and copyright are credited to Bell Musik GmbH, apparently a German outfit. The disc also bills itself as an "audiophile" recording, and, except for the fact that the recording level seems a little low, the sound is very good--crisp and clear with clean imaging and each instrument optimally placed within the soundscape.



It's easy to see why Brown and Alexander recorded so much together for the last two decades. On this, their first session (recorded in 1980), they make an immediate connection, almost as if they'd been playing together for years. I'm especially taken by Alexander here. He displays a dancing swing, a lilting rhythmic authority not always present on his later recordings (he was 36 when this disc was made). Johnny Griffin on tenor sax is at his frisky best. His first solo contains back-to-back quotes form the Theme to the Lone Ranger TV series and a children's nursery rhyme, and he's off to the races.



I was originally going to rate this four stars, but with repeated listenings, it has thoroughly ingratiated itself to me, and now I'm giving it a full five. This is first-rate mainstream jazz worth seeking out."