Masters Legacy Series Volume 2 (Cellar Live)
Emmet Cohen featuring Ron Carter
Released March 9, 2018
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lWejp2Aydeyg1lhcuhtNixiNjSaaTRtl8
Spotify:
About:
Masters Legacy Series Volume 2 is a record that simultaneously features and pays tribute to Sir Ron Carter. Carter is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz. With more than 2,000 albums to his credit, he has recorded with many of music’s greats. Here is is accompanying a bright young star on the jazz scene today, Emmet Cohen.
Track Listing:
1. All of You (Cole Porter) 10:14
2. Opus One (Sy Oliver) 08:42
3. Hindsight (Cedar Walton) 04:25
4. Holy Land (Cedar Walton) 07:17
5. Dear Ruth (Cedar Walton) 03:00
6. It’s About Time (Ron Carter) 07:34
7. Any Old Time (Artie Shaw) 07:16
8. Hatzi Kaddish (Intro) (Traditional) 01:08
9. Hatzi Kaddish (Traditional) 07:50
10. Light Blue (Ron Carter) 06:53
11. Ron Carter Speaks (Ron Carter) 04:02
12. Joshua (Victor Feldman) 07:50
Personnel:
Emmet Cohen: piano
Ron Carter: bass
Evan Sherman: drums
Recorded live June 29, 2017, at Pyatt Hall in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Executive Producer: Cory Weeds
Produced by: Emmet Cohen & Evan Sherman
Engineered, Mixed and Mastered by Tony Chamberlist
Cover photo by Randy Cole,
Design and Layout by Ian Hendrickson-Smith
Review:
Pianist Emmet Cohen’s Master Legacy Series, Volume 1 with Jimmy Cobb was a standout 2017 release. Still in his mid-20s, Cohen is a superb jazz pianist. And recording with the masters only heightens his own work, inspiring the bandleader to surprising solos and beautiful trio playing.
Along with sparkplug drummer Evan Sherman, Cohen and Carter play with equal respect for each other’s skills, the bassist acknowledging Cohen’s piano profundity; Cohen, supported by Carter’s warm accompaniment, flies over the keyboard in two-handed runs, beautiful ballad playing and soulful, articulate swing. “All Of You” opens the set, Cohen’s playing jewel-like and light, Carter playing wide whole notes and Sherman swinging brushes. The musical weight and might heard on a rendition of Cedar Walton’s “Hindsight” recalls the Great Jazz Trio, certainly due to Carter’s presence. But Cohen’s dense piano work is equally impressive. The slow-motion reverie of another Walton wonder, “Dear Ruth,” is a master class in timing, tension and release. And Victor Feldman’s classic “Joshua” closes the proceedings, a grand finish to a resplendent recording.
Ken Micallef (DownBeat)
