Larry McDonough Quartet: Kind of Bill On The Palace Grounds

I remember hearing on the radio the news the death of Bill Evans; pianist Larry McDonough reminds us that it’s the 40th Anniversary of that date, giving verbal and musical tribute to the jazz giant with Richard Terrill/sax-poetry, Greg Stinson/b and Dean White/dr re-visiting material from Evans’ songbook. There is a reflective spoken introduction as well as a couple poems that are heartfelt and personal. Musically, the idea of bringing in Terrill’s tenor sax was a work of genius, as it gives a fresh feel to pieces like “Blue In Green”, a bouncy “All Of You” and a rich “My Foolish Heat”. Stinson’s electric bass is gentle on “ Waltz For Debby” and McDonough himself is richly Chopinesque on “We Will Meet Again” and the energetic “So What”. Tributes are tough, as the first question is always “Why not just go to the original source”, but this guy keeps the ideas fresh and modern.

www.larrymcdonoughjazz.homestead.com

Leave a Reply