November 2000
Obviously, Green arrived at this session with loads of experience to draw on -- and it shows. Just listen to the fun he has playing "Love You Madly," or to his interplay with the group on "Captain Hook," where he takes his turn soloing, comping and interacting with each of the others in ways that belie his tender years. (None of these guys is older than Green.) Green knows just when to push, when to lay back, and when to join his compatriots. He never uses his incredible talent just to show off -- instead he exploits it only when he has something to say, such as in his solo on "Learnin’ The Blues." McBride and Malone are perfect complements to Green. Both have prodigious talent, and they never make a false move. McBride, who, it seems, is in demand by everyone these days (a fact that should tell you just how exceptional a musician he is), really shines in trio settings such as this one. I have a number of trio discs that include him, and all are made better by his presence. On Naturally, it’s easy to follow his bass work at all times, so you can hear just what it is that makes him such a sought-after accompanist. And while I’m ashamed to admit I’ve not heard that much of Malone, I did enjoy his work on the soundtrack to Robert Altman’s Kansas City. He has a nice, understated way of playing that fits in well with Green and McBride’s virtuosity. Just take a listen to his comping on the Green original "Russellin’" (written in Malone's -- big surprise, huh?) Lovely. Sonically, Naturally is right up there with the best from Telarc. Green’s piano is centered in the soundstage and very clearly recorded. It has just the right size, relative to the rest of the trio, not being confined to one channel or spread out over the whole soundstage. Malone’s hollow-body electric guitar is to the right and rear, yet obviously in its own space, with just the correct amount of electric purr and wooden-body acoustic. However, it is McBride’s bass that really shines here. You can hear his fingers plucking the strings, the slapping sound of the strings hitting the finger board, and the deep rumble of the large wooden cavity of the bass’s body out of the left channel. I thought it might be instructive to compare Naturally to These Are Soulful Times. TAST was engineered by Jim Anderson (a man whose credentials need no elaboration) direct to two track (digital?) using 24-bit technology, while Naturally was recorded, as usual, by the always superb Jack Renner, using Sony’s DSD process, which Telarc has adopted for most of their new releases. Given the difference in the two labels’ recording styles, there were significant, but not major, differences between the two discs. Malone’s guitar has more of the hollow-body sound on the Telarc disc than on the Blue Note. It’s the same with McBride’s bass, which sounds not quite as deep or full, and has more string sound than body, on the Blue Note. Green’s piano sounds fine on both discs, but just a tad more real on the Telarc. The only place the Blue Note seemingly tops the Telarc is in the way it captures low-level detail, a fact I attribute to its direct-to-two-track recording process. The Blue Note also sets the musicians further back into the soundstage than the Telarc, but that’s just a matter of taste. Having heard both, I’m becoming a bigger and bigger fan of the DSD recording process. What may be most telling is the amount of listening time I’ve spent with each of these recordings. I’ve been spinning the Telarc disc a lot since I received it, and yet, until I did this comparison, I hadn’t given the Blue Note a whirl in months. Now, that might have something to do with the musical content (the Telarc seems to touch my soul better than the Blue Note), but it’s also, I think, because the Telarc sounds more like the real thing, making it easier for me to close my eyes and suspend disbelief. Bravo Telarc and Benny Green. You have a winner, Naturally. GO BACK TO: |
Benny Green - Naturally
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Although
he is only 37 years old, pianist Benny Green seems to have been around a lot longer. Could
it be because, during those 37 years, he’s played with the likes of Art Blakey, Betty
Carter, Freddie Hubbard and Ray Brown (on quite a few albums for Telarc, no less), as well
as on a number of albums under his own leadership? Or maybe it’s because Green’s
style so closely resembles that of Oscar Peterson (who, seemingly, has been around
forever)? Whatever the reason, one can be forgiven for forgetting his age on listening to
this disc, his Telarc debut as a leader. Green weaves a sound that demonstrates his love
and understanding of music that seems far beyond his years. Naturally, performed
mostly in a trio format, reunites Green with guitarist Russell Malone and bassist
Christian McBride, who both joined him on Blue Note’s These Are Soulful Times
last year. The group runs through five Green originals and one cut,
"Grooveyard," by Carl Perkins (the West Coast jazz pianist, not that other
guy). Green goes solo on three standards, Duke Ellington’s "Love You
Madly," Wayne Shorter’s "Lester Left Town," and "Learnin’
The Blues" by Delores Vicki Silver.