It’s albums like this that break my heart.
Back in 2010 when it was recorded, The Jazz Bakery was the place in LA to hear jazz. I have a box full of their calendars, and just to torture myself, I picked one up at random and looked to see who headlined that month: Peter Erskine, Billy harper, Bill Cunliffe, Mike Melvoin, Eliane Elias, Pharoah Sanders, Miguel Zenon, Dr. Lonnie Smith…can I stop crying now?
Alas, The Bakery is still around, but usually residing at The Moss Theatre in Santa Monica. This disc is an Our Town sample of a typical night at the acoustically perfect club. Piano master Roger Kellaway (of both Art Pepper and “All In The Family” fame) gets together with guitarist Bruce Forman and bassist Dan Lutz for a casual and swinging night of standards, masterfully performed before an appreciating audience.
The Nat Cole-inspired trio bops in unison on a joyful take of Thelonious Monk’s “52nd Street Theme,” Kellaway strides like John Wayne on a bluesy “Doxy,” Forman gives sublime chords like he’s got Freddie Greene dna in his bones on a sublime “Take The ‘A’ Train” and the team give a hotcha groove to a galloping “Caravan.” Everyone stretches out a bit somewhere, with Kellaway more hip than an acetabulum on “Take Five” and Forman teaming with Lutz for a richly paced “Night And Day” and the gents feeling as comfortable as 20 year old Bass Weejuns for “Have You Met Miss Jones.” It all sounds so easy, and that’s the inspiration of it, as I always say, “If it’s so easy, how come no one else is doing it?” A hint of heaven-all that’s missing is a pastry from the French restaurant next door.