Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Inner Voyage (Blue Note)
Pianist Rubalcaba is a kind of brilliant musical chameleon whose colours include a superb European classical technique - and what that may imply in terms of influences; it's blended with harmonic, linear and rhythmic elements of bop and post-bop jazz, mixed with the rhythms of his native Cuba. Somehow, as this delightful trio album confirms, it all seems to come out Rubalcaba. Ably supported by Jeff Chambers (bass) and Ignacio Berroa (drums), his strength as a soloist and composer allows him to explore delicately lyric celebrations of his children and friends, plus a Here's That Rainy Day, that are truly gorgeous performances. Tenor Michael Brecker leavens the reflective mood, joining the trio for two complex, equally successful pieces.
- Ray Comiskey
Gerry Mulligan and The Concert Jazz Big Band (TCB)
Previously unreleased live performance from Zurich, 1960, catches Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band in sprightly form, relaxed and swinging, on familiar material. Both Mulligan and valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer are heavily featured, with the leader taking most of the honours, notably on You Took Advantage Of Me, Black Nightgown, Body And Soul and I'm Gonna Go Fishin' - among the best examples of band and soloists on the album. Excitement sometimes overcomes judgment on a frantic Motel and Apple Core, and the recording suffers occasionally from static, but among the compensations are a splendid slow blues, Go Home, with the great Zoot Sims's declamatory tenor over the band's appropriately idiomatic exhortations. Fans should love it.
- Ray Comiskey