Me Myself & I

I'm pretty convinced that Ruby Braff never made a duff record, he just wasn't capable of it.This is a wonderfully intimate, affirmatively musical disc featuring the trio of Braff on cornet, Howard Alden, guitar and Jack Lesberg, bass.The tunes are (nearly) all well-known jazz standards and as always, Braff`s ravishing tone and consummate spinning of logical, exquisite lines is captivating – as is the level of interaction he has with his partners; Alden is a player in the mould of George Barnes and there's a similar, sympathetic understanding between he and Braff which echo`s that earlier partnership.Of course, the unit is driven and held together in solid tempo by Lesberg who also shines in brief solos and thoughtful asides – not to mention his singing, bowed bass-work on some tracks.Amid the beautiful ballads and ebullient, swinging, up-tempo numbers there`s even a bit of Tchaikovsky – wickedly re-imagined for jazz trio.Another excellent recording from the Concord label and from Braff; the disc has a playing time of just over 51 minutes.

If you are a fan , then Ruby Braff can do no wrong.This one from his back catalogue which I had missed.There appears to be a substantial amount of stuffaround if you have the time to hunt it down.

Kurzrezension: Ruby Braff, einer der melodiösesten (gibt es das Wort?) Kornettisten in der Bobby-Hackett-Tradition, in seiner 1980er Trio-Besetzung mit Jack Lesberg (b) und Howard Alden (g). Ruby ist in großer Form, das Material ist ähnlich wie auf seinen anderen Concord-Alben der 80er, und so ist auch die Musik: Einfach wunderschön.

ルビー・ブラフの作品の中でも絶品の作品、入札困難となっているかもしれませんが、機会があれば是非お手元において聴き込んでほしい極上の１枚です。