Search - Bill Mays :: Going Home

Lovely stuff from a veteran pianist

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 04/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'd be surprised if there were a more sheerly lovely piano trio disc released this year than Bill Mays' new disc. It's dedicated to the memories of Jimmy Rowles, Red Mitchell & Shelly Manne. That's a great pianist, a great bassist, & a great drummer, & so it's no surprise that the music here places just as much emphasis on the roles of bassist (Martin Wind) and drummer (the always-excellent Matt Wilson) as it does on Mays's own piano. The programming is loosely based around the theme of home & homecoming, which leads to a nice mix of originals, mostly very offbeat choices of covers (only "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" is a familiar standard; there's even a nicely judged version of Dvorak's "Going Home", which was a favourite vehicle of Art Tatum). Mays' piano has a pearly but very precise quality to it: he isn't a "look at me" player. He likes to insert quotations in his lines, & he's one of the few players who does this who doesn't irritate me, because one never feels that it's a form of exhibitionism or lazy space-filling: Mays simply has all these tunes stashed in the back of his head (much like Jimmy Rowles) & they come out naturally & as part of the flow. He's also an excellent composer, though the show is stolen by a Rowles tune, the wonderful "Nosey Neighbors", which really ought to be better known. -- The recording itself is almost eerily beautiful: not in-your-face closemiked, but instead with a kind of silkiness that pulls the listener in gently rather than jumps out at him or her. Recommended."

An original and inspired artist

I. Gonczi | Berkley, MA | 07/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first became aware of Bill Mays when I heard him on one of the Gerry Mulligan cd-s, he appeared as a guest, comping "My funny Valentine". I started looking for his cd-s then. Extremely tasteful, original and sensitive pianist, nothing is overdone. The bassist is tight and focused, in a way reminescent of Niels Pedersen. The recording is a credit to the sound engineer. Hard to describe the style, maybe if you took a bit of Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson you would get something like it. Highly recommended."

Can't go wrong if you like mellow, melodic piano jazz

Dayzee D | 09/12/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The songs exude fluid, innovative piano in a trio format with solid backup. The songs are lilting, almost nostalgic, sometimes with a haunting undercurrent, that do have that title feeling of returning back to some comfortable place in the distant past. Nice album. For my own tastes a bit too low key for the most part (a couple of more upbeat numbers are in there), but, none the less, very well done."