Jazz, Bop, Bop Bass, Mainstream Jazz, Swing, Straight-ahead) Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, Russell Malone - Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, Russell Malone {Telarc SACD-63562, USA} - 2002, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, Russell Malone: Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, Russell Malone (2002)
By DAVE NATHAN, Published: October 5, 2002
At the risk of being cloying and maudlin, one knows that all good things must come to an end. But you don't have to like it. This his final coda, a two CD-set for Telarc, is the last known recording of one of the most prolific, rewarding (especially for his legions of listeners) and successful in jazz history. Reading Ray Brown's discography is about the same as reading the history of recorded jazz. To try and select one or even two handfuls of the "best of Ray Brown" would not only be patronizing, but an exercise in futility and not especially productive. It's fitting that one of the participants on this final session is Monty Alexander, with whom Brown started gigging way back in the 1970's and they have been going steady ever since. Malone, on the other hand, is a relative newcomer to the Brown circle, but has worked himself in very comfortably, thank you. This album is a happy, amiable, good natured get together including some examples of Brown as a pioneer in bop bass. But most of all it highlights his roots as a swinging jazz man. The bassist really believes that jazz had to move in order to make sure it was not taking itself too seriously. This was happy music, not the solemn, sad and smooth stuff being produced by too many contemporary artists. To say that he will be missed is a meaningless, gratuitous understatement. The key is to retain enough of his spirit to assure that the music remains healthy and on course. This fine release by Telarc will surely help in that regard.

December 2002
Ray Brown/Monty Alexander/Russell Malone
Ray Brown/Monty Alexander/Russell Malone
Telarc
By Doug Ramsey
The late bassist Ray Brown's last recording is in the spirit of the Oscar Peterson Trio and of the group that inspired it, the Nat "King" Cole Trio. The music is centered in the Cole-Peterson tradition of good feeling, harmonic subtlety and rhythmic togetherness. Brown and guitarist Russell Malone achieve a seductive swing reminiscent not only of Brown's with Herb Ellis in the Peterson trio, but, at times, also of Freddie Green's with Walter Page in Count Basie's band. Malone's rhythm-guitar work is impressive. His solos indicate that he has reached a new level of consistency and clarity.
Following pianist Monty Alexander's recent concentration on Caribbean idioms, interesting though they may be, it is good to hear him again in a straightahead setting. His piano work has always been based in great part on Nat Cole's lyricism, touch and chord voicings, elements he long ago absorbed as he developed his own style. There is also a rich Peterson component in Alexander's approach, as well as streak of whimsy that leads him to the strategic placement of quotes (a bit of "Filthy McNasty" in "Django," for example). Along with Peterson and Gene Harris, he was one of Brown's preferred pianists.
The CD includes the classics "Honeysuckle Rose," Brown's "Blues for Junior," "I Can't See for Looking" (indelibly associated with Cole) and originals by all three musicians. Brown's playing a few months before his death was undiminished in tone, perfection of note choice and, above all, swing. He elevates every performance with the strength and joy of his time, whether soloing or walking behind Malone and Alexander.
Included with the first pressing of the CD is a limited-edition bonus disc with selections from many of Brown's previous albums for Telarc. Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, Russell Malone is a splendid ending to a recording career of more than half a century. It is also final evidence, if more was needed, of Brown's primacy among bassists.

Review by Rick Anderson
It would be nice to say that Ray Brown's final recording session before his sudden and untimely death in the summer of 2002 resulted in a masterpiece, but although this trio session with guitarist Russell Malone and pianist Monty Alexander is perfectly serviceable, a masterpiece it is not. It's a very attractive album -- Brown was probably not capable of producing anything less as a leader -- but it suffers just a bit from Alexander's slightly sugary style and from the lack of a drummer. Recording without a drummer had been the latest thing in the jazz world for several years when this album was released, but it's not entirely clear what the benefit of such an arrangement was supposed to be. On this album, the swing standard "Fly Me to the Moon" and Dexter Gordon's boppish "Dexter's Dex" would have had much more oomph with a sympathetic drummer on board (though on the latter, Malone's Django Reinhardt-styled backup and Brown's inimitable freight train rhythmic drive do go some distance toward making up for that lack). And the mid-tempo numbers seem to plod just a bit as well. But as always, there's no questioning either the inventiveness of Brown's solos or the rich sumptuousness of his enormous tone.