Manhattan Blues

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Manhattan Blues album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 9   Total Length: 60:28

eMusic Features

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Ran Blake: the New Englandest New Englander

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic Contributor

Ran Blake is one mysterioso pianist. His playing smacks of deep, complicated feelings, like melancholy, or nostalgia, where painful longing and sweet remembrance mix. His right hand - could be one finger - might hammer out a melody like a brass bell, choosing notes with a poet's care, while his left hand plumbs the depths, with low dissonant chords made all the more ambiguous via subtle foot pedaling. Other pianists abuse the sustain pedal for… more »

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Professor Jaki Byard’s Pre-Postmodern Piano

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic Contributor

When Jaki Byard was with Charles Mingus in the 1960s, audiences would laugh when, mid-solo, Byard would burst into 1920s-style stride piano — the revved-up ragtime offshoot where the left hand bounds back and forth over the lower half of the keyboard. Its archaic quality struck listeners as comic — in that avant-garde age, stride was for antiquarians. Nowadays every hip outside or inside pianist will drop a little stride science once in awhile — like… more »

They Say All Music Guide

This CD is a particularly well-rounded program, with tenor saxophonist Ricky Ford digging into three jazz standards (“In Walked Bud,” “Misty” and “Half Nelson”), plus six originals that include tributes to Charles Mingus and Billy Strayhorn. In addition to the versatile pianist Jaki Byard (an underrated great) and drummer Ben Riley, Ford is joined by veteran bassist Milt Hinton, who is quite effective on this modern material. Stimulating music. – Scott Yanow