1. Last Train Home
2. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
3. Pools
4. If I Could
5. Azalea
6. Ask Me Now
7. Angela's Sad Song
8. Reckless Blues
9. Spring Ain't Here
10. You Must Believe in Spring
11. Angela
12. Alone Together
13. Regrets
14. I Didn't Know What Time it Was
15. Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?
Davy Mooney - Vocals, guitar
John Pizzarelli - Guitar
An invitation to record with a major jazz guitar player like John
Pizzarelli is the sort of endorsement that any young jazz musician
would love to have. Davy Mooney got his as a result of John hearing
him at a Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition. Davy
is not however an overnight "wunderkind", he has developed
his excellent skills through many years of study with the best tutors
in the best universities. There is a moral here. There is a
line of thought that says you can't teach people to play jazz; to
a degree it may be true, but I am sure that Davy's studies have developed
him into the mature player that he is already. He is now returning
the favour and teaching graduates in his home city of New Orleans.
The music selected for the album sustains the listener's interest,
because it is a mixture of a few standards, some lesser-known tunes
and a few original compositions. John is always sympathetic in his
accompaniment of the young man, just as he is to the other soloists
in his band, something I noticed from the first time I heard them.
Azalea is a lesser-known Duke Ellington tune that is worthy
of more exposure, and Davy uses his pleasant voice to add the words.
Davy and John take turns to solo and to back one another throughout
the album and obviously developed the rapport that is easy to hear
in their work.
It may be just me, but the problem I have with all Pat Metheny compositions
is that I think they lack a decent tune. I never heard anybody whistling
one of his tunes! The two on this album have the same problem; they
are good improvisational vehicles, but no tune. Thankfully this could
never be levelled at Michel Legrand or Antonio Carlos Jobim whose
compositions follow. Alone Together has always been a favoured
jazz vehicle and neither of our guitarists fail to make the most of
it.
The last two tracks are my favourites: great tunes beautifully played
by two masters of the instrument.
This is a very pleasing CD that to my mind lacks only one thing:
two great musicians enjoying playing together, but without any competitive
edge. Sometimes the thing that sparks any album of two people, who
play the same instrument, is an attempt to blow one another away.
Not all the time, but every so often. Perhaps they are just too polite!
Don Mather
CD Reviews
Challenge CR 73273
