1. One Peaceful Moment
2. I Guess I`ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
3. Sweet Love Of Mine
4. The Things We Did Last Summer
5. Once I Loved
6. Hold It Down
7. Mambo Influenciado
8. I Remember Clifford
9. Peanut Butter Two
10. Sunset Blues
John Hicks – Piano
Javon Jackson – Tenor sax
Elise Wood – Flute (tracks 3, 7-9)
Curtis Lundy – Bass
Victor Jones – Drums
Ray Mantilla – Percussion (tracks 3, 5, 7, 9)
John
Hicks was never exactly a household name,
even among most jazz fans. Yet, since his
death on 10 May 2006, we may start to realise
just how good he was. He had played piano
in all kinds of contexts – from Art Blakey
to Lester Bowie, from Betty Carter to Arthur
Blythe, and from Billy Bang to Woody Herman.
His versatility is evident in this album,
his final recording.
The
opening track, his own composition One
Peaceful Moment, illustrates his individual
qualities. Alone at the piano, he picks his
way delicately through the tune. Every note
and chord is thoughtful, considered – with
a clarity that lets us hear every nuance.
This clarity is audible on every track. Another
side of the man can be heard in items like
the title-track and Mambo Influenciado:
Latin-American excursions spiced by the percussion
of Ray Mantilla. Hold It Down – a Curtis
Lundy original – proves that Hicks can also
play straightforward swing with the best.
Javon
Jackson’s saxophone adds greatly to the appeal
of this CD – tender in I Guess I’ll Hang
My Tears Out To Dry; muscular on the title-track;
heart-tugging in Once I Loved; almost
Coltraneish on Peanut Butter Two. The
flute of Elise Wood (John Hicks’s wife) adds
a contrasting voice, although it sounds rather
tremulous stating the melody of I Remember
Clifford. The closing Sunset Blues
is a suitable valediction: a solo piano performance
in which John’s discerning clarity illuminates
a simple blues.
So
farewell, John Hicks. You don’t know what
you’ve got till it’s gone. But it is estimated
that John appeared on 300 recording sessions,
including more than 20 under his own name,
so there is plenty to remember him by.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
HighNote
HCD 7142
