Harry Allen: "Meets The John Pizzarelli Trio/Tenors Anyone?" (BMG)
The visit of tenor saxophonist Harry Allen a few months ago alerted aficionados to this pair of brilliant mainstream CDs which, despite the acclaim that has begun to accumulate round his name, remain almost a wellkept secret. They catch him in what may be the first flush of maturity; he owes something to Getz in terms of line, lyricism and, occasionally, even tonal manipulation, and to Zoot Sims for his time, but his style has become something distinctively personal. There are no drums on these CDs - just Pizzarelli on guitar, with his brother Martin on bass and Ray Kennedy on piano - but there's no absence of drive or invention as Allen leads the quartet through a programme of harmonically well-heeled standards.
George Russell: "At Beehoven Hall" (MPS)
Russell is one of a handful of truly original minds in jazz. Even the earliest of his 1960s recordings still sound resolutely avant garde, yet the material is organised, coherent and obviously stimulating for his soloists. On this memorable live concert from 1965 the author of The Lydian Chromatic Concept Of Tonal Organization applies his theories - and his passion - with a septet, to six of his own compositions and the jazz standards Bags Groove, Confirmation and Round Midnight, and You Are My Sunshine. The last two had been addressed on his classic Ezz-thetics and The Outer View albums, but these versions are better examples of Russell's talents; Midnight is more thoroughly recast than its predecessor, while Sun- shine, though akin to its previous incarnation, is less studied in performance. Overall, the concert comes across as startling, and fresh-sounding, as the day it was given.
Sonny Stitt: "How High The Moon" (Chess)
Three of the rarest and finest albums of saxophonist Sonny Stitt's long career form the basis of this superior collection of tracks from his visits to Chicago in the late 1950s/early 1960s. All Stitt ever needed to give of his best was a good rhythm section and, if possible, above-average soloists - enough to stop him coasting, albeit at a high level, on his virtuosity and his vast stock of distinguished personal cliches. He gets them here; pianist Barry Harris is followed by the great tenor, Zoot Sims, and trombonist Benny Green respectively, and Stitt responds in inspirational style. Comparison with any of his classic albums shows that Stitt's playing on these Chicago dates stands up to any of them.
