Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Indy gold

I plugged organist Melvin Rhyne's recent CD "Tomorrow Yesterday Today", but here's an early date, from 1959, involving Rhyne that's worth picking up. I got it for my birthday thanks to my friends Pat Kuhnle and Carl Abernathy.

On "The Wes Montgomery Trio: A Dynamic New Sound," Riverside, Rhyne plays mostly a complimentary role with Montgomery's guitar front and center. Some reviews characterize this grouping as not working fully to let Wes do his stuff, but I think the two Indianapolis natives work together smoothly and seem to have been a good fit. Melvin gets to run a bit on some tunes, like "Satin Doll." Montgomery puts his own stamp on "'Round Midnight," one of my favorite jazz standards, approaching it with a lighter touch than it usually gets in a version I'm pleased to have. Montgomery and Rhyne both get to let loose on Montgomery's tune "Jingles." Lots of good playing here.

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