The late 50s and early 60s had a surfeit of jazz pianists. Here are a pair that had their moment of sunshine, have drifted into under-served obscurity and have resurfaced thanks to the painstaking detective work of Fresh Sound Records.
Don Shirley (1927-2013) was a pianist that combined classical and jazz sensibilities in a seductive chamber atmosphere. He had a unique trio that included bassist Ken Fricker and cellist Juri That, melding bowing the higher strings with the plucked lower ones to create a rich texture and implied pulse. This disc is from a pair of sessions. The February 1959 one includes the tumbdora and French horn on a handful of tracks, of which “Satin Doll” is quite high class and “The Way You Look Tonight” is a gorgeous sonata, with the tri flowing on ‘Happy Talk.” The July 1960 session has exotic Middle Eastern bowing for a clever “In A Moorish Market” with Shirley going mostly solo with elegance on “When Your Lover Has Gone.” An almost eight minute Billie Holiday medley is filled with restrained style, with a version included of “Easy Living” that contrasts with his ’59 reading to show that he had the heart of an improviser. Classy!
Philadelphia’s Leroy Lovett (1919-2013) is best known for his stint as a sideman for Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams and Cat Anderson, but he also had time to put out some impressive material on his own. This single disc has two sessions, both from 1959. Nine tunes with a 12 piece “Orchestra” has clever horn arrangements that have a hint of Ellingtonia in them, such as “Blob’s Burning” and “What’s Buzzin’.” The Quartet format with Bob Brown/as-ts, Al Hall/b and George “Butch” Ballard from the first outing includes a rich “Angel Eyes” and a “Misty” that gives hint of Errol Garner, with some smoky sax blowing on “ABC Hop.” The team sounds like a working unit, kind of a bop version of vintage John Kirby. This one will surprise you!
Both discs include original liner notes, session notes, artist personnel and some background to the musicians.
https://www.freshsoundrecords.com/leroy-lovett-albums/47446-jazz-dance-party-lee3-2-lp-on-1-cd.html