  |
|
|
 |
| On the Montreal Scene |
| Johnny O'Neal |
| első megjelenés éve: 1996 |
|
| (1996)
|
|
CD |
| 4.401 Ft
|
|
| 1. | Let Me off Uptown
|
| 2. | Easy Walker
|
| 3. | Why Try to Change Me Now?
|
| 4. | Happy Days Are Here Again
|
| 5. | Just Loving You
|
| 6. | Overjoyed
|
| 7. | Come Sunday
|
| 8. | While the Blood Is Running Warm
|
| 9. | Homeboy Blues
|
Jazz
Johnny O'Neal - piano and voice (on tracks 03, 05 and 09)
Russell Malone - guitar
Tarus Mateen - bass
Wali Muhammad - drums
Montreal producer Jim West was minding his own business one day last summer when a tip came down the pipeline.
"You should really get to Biddles tonight," the message read. "I think you'll like what you hear."
West took the advice to heart. Hours later, he was seated at his customary spot in the city's premier jazz club, listening to veteran American pianist and singer Johnny O'Neal seduce the house with the kind of easy showmanship that only consummate craft allows. West remembers being impressed with the way O'Neal swung effortlessly between hard bop, lounge tunes and the kind of ballads people fall in love over in bars like Biddles. There were traces of Art Tatum in his style, elements of the blues, bebop, and whatever influence a hometown of Detroit, Michigan and apprenticeship in Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers will bring to a guy's art and act. But it wasn't until O'Neal leaned into the first of a number of gospel pieces that West felt the hair on his arms rise up, and the spirit take hold.
He wasn't alone. People who know and love jazz enough to spend their lives with it are notoriously sparing in their praise - cool is the rule. But O'Neal turned the club into a revival hall, offering almighty praise where all praise is due, and receiving it in kind from a crowd that knew some kind of magic was working its joyful spell that night.
From there, it took only time and the right kind of talent to fit O'Neal and his hectic international schedule into a Montreal studio. Time can be organized. When the players are O'Neal, bassist Tarus Mateen, guitarist Russell Malone and drummer Wali Muhammed, the talent takes care of itself.
But the chemistry, that's something else. It can't be manufactured. It can only be encouraged. And there's a regular cheering section behind the record you hold in your hands right now. "There wasn't a game plan behind the session," West says. "Johnny wanted to go and have some fun, playing with people he's known for years. It was extremely relaxed. I think it shows."
Amen to that. "On The Montreal Scene" is proof.
---John Griffin
John Griffin writes about entertainment for the Montreal Gazette
Pianist Johnny O'Neal displays several sides to his musical personality on this CD. On some tunes, particularly the uptempo romps, he sounds very influenced by Oscar Peterson, yet he also has his own brand of soul, which comes to the forefront on the ballads. During two numbers ("While the Blood Is Running Warm" and, most logically, "Come Sunday"), O'Neal comes across as a top-notch gospel pianist. His forceful and sincere vocalizing on three songs is an acquired taste, but O'Neal is effective on the closing blues. The straight-ahead music, which sometimes co-stars guitarist Russell Malone, has several surprises, including what may be the only instrumental version ever of the Gene Krupa-Anita O'Day hit "Let Me Off Uptown," a somber "Happy Days Are Here Again," and a colorful interpretation of "Come Sunday." Well worth checking out.
--- Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Johnny O'Neal
Active Decades: '70s, '80s and '90s
Born: Oct 10, 1956 in Detroit, MI
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Soul-Jazz, Neo-Bop, Post-Bop
A fine pianist influenced by Oscar Peterson, Johnny O'Neal actually started his career playing gospel piano in church while a teenager. Inspired by Peterson, Art Tatum, and Bud Powell, O'Neal started exploring jazz in 1976 and after impressing Ray Brown, found his way into Milt Jackson's group. Other important jobs followed (with Sonny Stitt, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Buddy DeFranco), and in 1982, O'Neal moved to New York and soon recorded his debut with Concord. After playing regularly with Clark Terry, he was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1982-1983) and has mostly led his own groups ever since. Johnny O'Neal has recorded as a leader for Concord, Parkwood, and Justin Time (1995), taking three effective vocals on the latter set.
---Scott Yanow, All Music Guide |
|
CD bolt, zenei DVD, SACD, BLU-RAY lemez vásárlás és rendelés - Klasszikus zenei CD-k és DVD-különlegességek |  | | Webdesign - Forfour Design |
|
|
