"He
blends the soul of Memphis with the madness of Manhattan and a life experience
as
one of
the music's outstanding pianists to create musical muscle that immediately
draws
you in and a sensitivity that keeps you there. Anytime is the right
time for Harold Mabern!" - WBGO
The
label's first title, Right On Time, is by the jazz piano eminence Harold
Mabern. It's a fitting debut for Smoke Sessions as Mabern's frequent presence
at Smoke over the years was instrumental in making it a major jazz destination.
While most people his age are enjoying retirement, Mabern is still happily in
the trenches in the sixth decade of his illustrious career. Clearly, he still
has a lot to say.
Recorded
over the weekend of his 77th birthday celebration in March 2013, Right on
Time--which he dedicates to his idol, and fellow Memphis piano giant, Phineas
Newborn, Jr.--captures all of the highlights of his two nights at Smoke with
bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth, one of his two working trios.
Mabern knows a thing or two about putting together a balanced musical program
and he draws on an extensive repertoire for this title including classic blues,
swinging standards, moving ballads, and modal tempests.
Always
on the lookout for material from outside the jazz box, Mabern opens Right on
Time with Peter Brown's disco hit "Dance with Me." He finds another
surprising gem in plain sight with the well-known Theme to Laverne and Shirley
"Making our Dreams Come True." He also includes some of his favorite
composers-Richard Rodgers, Thad Jones, Henry Mancini, and Hoagy Carmichael-and
delivers an unusually melancholy and particularly beautiful rendition of
"Don't Get Around Much Anymore." There is a blistering, bebop reading
of "Cherokee," as well as "Seven Steps to Heaven" conceived
during his time with Miles in the '60s and his own beloved original,
"Edward Lee" dedicated to trumpeter Lee Morgan. Finally, he builds
the ebulliently swinging "Blues for Frank 'n' Paul 'n' All" from another
unlikely source-the outgoing message on his answering machine. It was a melodic
fragment that proved so popular with fellow musicians that he "finished
it" with an ending and now dedicates it to the entire Smoke family.
Many
consider Mabern the very definition of a "jazz master," and Right On
Time is just the most recent evidence that it's high time that the National
Endowment for the Arts officially makes him a Jazz Master, too.
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