Jeremy Pelt: The Art Of Intimacy, Volume 1

Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt had a yen to play with some elders, and he could not have picked better collaborators for The Art Of Intimacy, Volume 1 than pianist George Cables and bassist Peter Washington. Back in the Fifties, there was the idea of “mood music,” epitomized in the jazz world by Prestige Records’ Moodsville imprint. As a listener to the Bay Area radio station KJAZ-FM in the Seventies, I recall their “dinner jazz” segment for two hours every night. Pressing “play” on The Art Of Intimacy quickly brought those developments to mind. There’s always a place for a low-key ballad-heavy project in the jazz world, and given the crazy times we live in, a soothing set of genuinely warm music is truly welcome. While a trio of trumpet, piano, and bass is pretty rare among jazz recordings, Pelt, Cables, and Washington make it sound like the most natural blend in the world. Pelt has selected some uncommon material for the date. Rodgers and Hart’s Little Girl Blue is the most familiar of the standards, played here with graceful finesse and featuring an especially fine arco solo by Washington. Always On My Mind (by Johnny Green and Norman Newell) was sung by Sarah Vaughan for Roulette in 1963, but has seldom been recorded since. The trio gives it a lovely and unhurried reading, with Pelt’s Harmon-muted horn leading the way. I’ve Just Seen Her, a song by Charles Strouse and Arthur Schwartz, is similarly obscure, with only a handful of recordings over the years. The mute stays in place for a typically melodic and elegant performance. Another rarity is Lucky Thompson’s While You Are Gone, which as near as I can tell was recorded by the composer just once, on a 1960 French TV appearance released decades later on the Fresh Sounds label. It’s a genuinely charming melody, which Pelt describes as “singable,” proving the point with his horn. There are a few breaks from the trio format. Ab-o-lutely is a spontaneous blues duet by Pelt and Washington. Pelt and Cables play a luscious duet on the pianist’s Ebony Moonbeams and conclude the disc with a tender rendition of I’ll Never Stop Loving You, written by Nicholas Brodzsky and Sammy Cahn, and made famous by Doris Day in the 1955 film Love Me Or Leave Me. Here it’s the occasion for some particularly beautiful rhapsodizing by Cables and a succinct melody statement by Pelt, the perfect ending for a beautifully heartfelt session. Warmly recommended.
HighNote HCD 7334; Jeremy Pelt (tpt) George Cables (p) Peter Washington (b); Englewood Cliffs, NJ, August 22, 2019; Live is Simple/ Little Girl Blue/ Always on My Mind/ I’ve Just Seen Her/ Then I’ll Be Tired of You/ Ebony Moonbeams/ While You Are Gone/ Ab-o-lutely/ I’ll Never Stop Loving You; 52:22. www.jazzdepot.com

Jim Snidero & Jeremy Pelt: Jubilation!: Celebrating Cannonball Adderley

      Because there is so much music out there, even serious jazz fans need to be reminded from time to time of important music from the past. One of the best ways is to settle down with a tribute record featuring songs played or written by a significant figure in the music. That’s precisely the intent of Jubilation!: Celebrating Cannonball Adderley, new from Jim Snidero & Jeremy Pelt, cooperating at the helm of a dynamite quintet, with David Hazeltine at the piano, Nat Reeves on bass, and Billy Drummond in the drum chair. Now there’s barely a way for this new disc to make anything close to the impact that Cannonball had when he first appeared in New York in 1955, sitting in with the Oscar Pettiford group at the Café Bohemia. Too much in jazz and in the world has changed in the 63 years since that debut, and Snidero and Pelt surely know that all too well. Still, they bring a heap of soulful energy to the enterprise, playing tunes performed by various Adderley groups as well as two new songs that demonstrate Cannonball’s continuing influence. Pelt’s Party Time leads off with a bang, tapping right into the gritty dance feeling that permeates Adderley’s many recordings. Near the end of the set, Snidero’s Ball’s 90th is a bluesy celebration of Cannonballs’ life and legacy. The rest of the program is a well-chosen selection of songs associated with Cannonball and his brother, cornetist Nat Adderley. Cannonball’s signature tune, Stars Fell on Alabama, makes an appearance featuring a fiery Snidero, as does Nat’s famous composition Work Song, which closes the disc with a good-natured romp, complete with a drum solo introduction by Drummond and a sparkling piano solo by Hazeltine. Each of the principals comes by their love for this music naturally. Snidero studied with another alto master, Phil Woods, who he says “lit the fire,” noting that “Cannonball, along with Bird and Sonny Stitt, showed me the way on the horn within straight-ahead jazz.” For his part, Pelt, who started listening to Cannonball as a teenager, got a first-hand education in the Adderley sound when he played for nearly two decades with Louis Hayes, drummer in the Adderley band from 1959 to 1965. The best homages send you back to the original versions for comparison purposes, and that’s what Jubilation! accomplishes with its modern renditions of time-honored work. Warmly recommended.
Savant SCD 2167; Jeremy Pelt (tp) Jim Snidero (as) David Hazeltine (p) Nat Reeves (b) Billy Drummond (d); Saylorsburg, PA, December 12, 2017; Party Time/ Del Sasser/ Wabash/ Saudade/ Stars Fell on Alabama/ Sack o’ Woe/ Ball’s 90th/ Work Song; 53:21. www.jazzdepot.com