Featuring Donald Byrd

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Hank Jones was only starting his career as a bandleader in 1955, after ten years as a sideman alongside many prominent jazz ensembles and big bands. With fellow Detroiter trumpeter Donald Byrd, non-related bassist from the Count Basie band Eddie Jones, and drummer Kenny Clarke, pianist Jones was the flowering, elegant musician whose gentlemanly like playing would ensure a long and satisfying career, eschewing fashion, fads and trends in more modern music styles. Originally released on the Savoy label, there are tracks where both Byrd and the obscure fellow trumpeter Matty Dice team up to play off each other and build melodies bigger. But it is Jones who drives this jazz bus in subtle shadings no matter the tempo. It is that signature combination of restraint and taste that identifies Hank Jones as a unique individualist in a sea of post-Bud Powell bombardiers. The sweet and easy "Almost Like Being in Love" sets this tone, and also gives Byrd the floor to play at his melodic, swinging best. It may be the finest single, purely stunning performance of the trumpeter on any of his dates, accented further by some chatty repartee between he and Jones at the end of the melody line. The three cuts with Byrd and the erudite Dice side by side are playful, inventive, and they sound compatible together. From the stairstep blues of Frank Foster's "An Evening at Papa Joe's," the stripped down basic walking blues "And Then Some," and the separate and equal brass stance for "Hank's Pranks," the subtle but distinct differences between the bolder Byrd and the looser Dice are easy to discern. There are two tracks penned by Frank Wess, both ballads. "Summer's Gone" perfectly evokes the introspective class Jones embodies via his chiming chords, while "Don't Blame Me" (not the standard of the same name) falls along similar lines with Byrd in late on both tunes. There's a bonus track taken from the Trio with Guests issue on Savoy featuring the staggered phrasings of flute player Herbie Mann, a slowed, soulful version of Charlie Parker's "Bluebird" sans trumpets. A satisfying hour-plus of the young and already mature Hank Jones and his mates, this reissue is highly recommended, and a great entrée for those just discovering what a true jazz master he is. ~ Michael G. Nastos|