With so much post bop, post modern, everything, it’s wonderfully refreshing to hear an album like this one, with piano great Alan Broadbent taking our ears back to the roots of the modern in a joyful tribute to bebop music. Ah!
The trio of Broadbent with Harvie S/b and Billy Mintz/dr don’t need to prove their bonafides, as they are three of the top artists around, so you know they are digging onto this snappy material because of the simple reason of its rejuvenation. I forgot how fun it was to listen to music; this is why I switched from rock to jazz!
Broadbent is sublime in his treatment of the romantic “Tadd Dameron “On A Misty Night,” and his tribute to Clifford Brown is a hip swinger in “Clifford Notes.” From there, Harvie S gives a nice bluesy solo with thee team on a bopping take of Chopin’s Prelude on “Waltz Prelude” and is elegant on the glorious “I Fall IN Love To Easy.” Mintz is crisp on the bouncy Bud Powell-inspired “Fine And Dandy” with Broadbent in full fisted frivolity, while Gigi Gryce’s “Minority” and Barry Harris’ “Crazeology” bubble over in celebration.
It all sounds so easy here, but as my mom used to say, “if it was this easy, everyone would be doing it.” It takes a rare talent these days to make music so happy. This one is a smile maker, with Broadbent sounding like a Biblical prophet reminding us to return to our “first love.”