Search - Al Grey :: Center Piece: Live at the Blue Note

The Centerpiece

chris boeyink | Elmhurst, IL United States | 09/27/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is cd is one of my favorites. Period. It's hard swinging music that doesn't get old. There is so much feeling behind every note that these guys play, it makes other cd's seem less relevent. Everything just makes sense."

The Tradition

Nikica Gilic | Zagreb, Croatia | 01/02/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This music is swinging and spirited, with plenty of fine solos, but Grey was simply a bit past his peak, not to mention good old Harry "Sweets" Edison...

It's a pleasure, however, to listen the musicians play their tributes to their Basie and Gillespie orchestra origins, with reliable and strong sax and flute of Jerome Richardson and rock-solid rhythm section. The music is quite diverse (blues and ballads; elements of bop and swing + bossanovish "Nascimento") but, when listened in context of Edison's "Live at the Iridium" album, one sees not only the pattern but repetition of songs ("I Wish I Knew" and Edison's classic "Centerpiece"...).

I like this album very much, but it's far from being essential."