Saturday, May 14, 2005

Full Cleveland

Frankly, I don't remember how "The Music of Ernie Krivda" got on my to-buy list, but a few weeks ago I decided to run it down, which took me to the Cadence Web site, where I finally found and bought it.

I'm glad I did. Great music, playing and composing, he wrote all the songs, from a tenor saxophonist who deserves much wider recognition than his Cleveland home base. The CD is essentially adventurous hard bop with a big band sound despite coming from a "mere" sextet. The young trumpet, piano, bass and drums players, some Krivda's students, he has with him are great and so is the older guitarist Bob Fraser, another Cleveland jazz vet. This rates with anything I've heard lately. "Frankie's on the Floor," dedicated to dancing legend Frankie Manning, is toe-tappin' goodness and "A Winter's Waltz" is balladry at its best.

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