March Blues

about this album

Larry Porter - piano Thomas Stabenow - bass Rick Hollander - drums For some time now, I have been looking forward to hearing the tapes of the CD you now hold in your hands. The three musicians on this recording, friends of mine, were all enthusiastic about the results. I know them to be perceptive self-critical musicians, so their enthusiasm made me more than curious. March Blues is a gem of a recording. With its subtle complexities of angles and colors intrinsically integrated into the compositional whole, it shines with a deeply satisfying and lasting brilliance. Pianist and composer Larry Porter - bassist Thomas Stabenow - and drummer Rick Hollander - are all major players on the German-European jazz scene. They have worked together in a variety of contexts over the last several years, developing the familiarity and intuitive empathy necessary within the intimacy of a piano trio. After the first few listenings to this recording, and upon imagining how I would approach the writing, I found myself continually coming up with superlatives for the playing on every piece. I felt the comments would become redundant. So, a few general observations about the players on this recording seem appropriate here. Rick Hollander has an off-the-wall logic to his playing which continually surprises me. What sounds straight-ahead turns out to be interlaced with delightful curves and angles. And it all fits and fills out the parts. Thomas Stabenow is the consummate accompanist. The intimacy

tracks

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