German-based MPS continues to release vintage 70s jazz, with this session by pianist Monty Alexander being the most recent. The NYC session from 1971 has Alexander with Dave Brubeck alumnus Eugene Wright/b along with Duffy Jackson/dr and Montego Joe/conga. While Alexander was originally tabbed as “the next Oscar Peterson”, he wisely carved his own path, mixing tones and pulses from his native Jamaica to create his own calypso’d fragrance.
The idea works well, bringing a new color (and some boogie woogie) to The Beatles’ “Here Comes The Sun” as well as the bop standard “Love Walked In” with Alexander mixing modern jazz with a Marleyesque color. His hands are exuberant and romantic on “Montevideo” and the team digs into a clever stretching out of Miles Davis’ “So What”. The music here as aged well, still fresh and flavorful.