RAY BRYANT
Somewhere In France (Label M)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

---

In his liner notes, the legendary jazz producer and Label M's owner, Joel Dorn, points out how difficult it is to get a truly great live recording. You have to have your technical side worked out without kinks, the performance has to be spot on, and the audience has to be with the performer(s). If any one element is wrong, the whole project suffers and you end up with just another live recording. There are a million live recordings. There are only a few that inspire words like "brilliant" and, from the higher education crowd, "wow!"

Pianist Ray Bryant, a true success story in jazz not just because of his impressive career but also because he's come through it all healthy and appreciated in his own lifetime, has now made at least one "wow" live recording, and the strange part of the story is that it was just recorded by the soundman at the board, the tape handed to Bryant after the gig, as is almost traditional, placed in a plastic bag next to hundreds of others and forgotten for the past seven years. A two dollar tape. And here I sit listening to the CD that Label M has made from that recently discovered tape and I just can't believe it. The sound is too clear, too perfect. Too live. It's just Bryant and his piano and his audience, which is the very best way to enjoy the talents of this man, and with eyes closed and speakers angled in I feel like I'm at a table up front. This is an amazing thing. A two dollar tape.

Ray Bryant continues to perform, and he hasn't lost a thing. It's hard to imagine a better document of his solo performance coming around the bend, however, so scarf this gem up, like right now. Don't let that two dollar tape thing scare you. The sound man must have known his business, because he had his technical stuff worked out without kinks. The performance was spot on. And with the unbridled joyfulness in the way he plays the piano, the audience couldn't help but be with Ray Bryant. All the elements were covered, the magic happened.

Track List:

Take The A Train * Blues In G/Willow Weep For Me * Con Alma * Slow Freight * Jungletown Jubilee * Django * After Hours * When I Look In Your Eyes * Good Morning Heartache * In The Back Room * If I Could Just Make It Into Heaven * St. Louis Blues * Until It's Time For You To Go

© 2001 - DJ Johnson