Plays the Music of Arthur Schwartz

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Personnel: Joe Cohn (guitar). Audio Mixer: Jim Czak. Recording information: Nolas Studios, New York, NY (03/06/2006-03/07/2006). Author: Jonathan Schwartz. Photographer: Tom Artin. Arthur Schwartz doesn't get album-length tributes as often as guys like Jerome Kern and Cole Porter and the Gershwin brothers, but he certainly should: even if you don't know his name, you know the names of songs for which he wrote the music: "That's Entertainment," "You and the Night and the Music," "Haunted Heart," "'Dancing in the Dark." On this sweet tribute album, pianist Ray Kennedy leads his trio and guest guitarist Joe Cohn through a set that includes all of those as well as a few less famous tunes, all of them played with decorous elegance and consummate taste. There are a couple of strange moments (such as the inexplicable fadeout on the otherwise wonderful rendition of "By Myself" that opens the album) and one or two mild disappointments (such as when Kennedy struggles to keep up with the rhythm section during his solo on "That's Entertainment") but for the most part, this is old-school small-ensemble jazz of the highest order. The band swings sturdily on an excellent rendition of "Shine on Your Shoes" and plays with heartbreaking tenderness on a slow version of "Make the Man Love Me," but perhaps the program's finest moment comes on Kennedy's wonderfully flowing solo piano arrangement of "Haunted Heart." Highly recommended overall. ~ Rick Anderson