Search - Pee Wee Russell :: New Groove

Lightning doesn't strike twice

jive rhapsodist | NYC, NY United States | 01/06/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ask Me Now is a masterpiece. This CD is OK. The concepts are the same. Put Pee Wee into a challenging Chamber Jazz context, stretch him with exposure to some brilliant Modern Jazz compositions, give him a couple of ballads to do his thing. Marshal Brown really doesn't swing on that valve trombone - I guess he doesn't swing on the other CD either but it isn't so jarring. His phrasing is so literal that it sounds like he's reading his solos. Pee Wee has great moments (Taps Miller, for example) but if you need to make a choice...Ask Me Now wins hands down. This CD feels more like a bunch of Jazz traditionalists trying to make a Jimmy Giuffre record."

Pee Wee is Unique

For Jazz | USA | 01/06/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"How does a traditional jazz musician become a modernist? By being a wonderful, unique musician. There was no one like Pee Wee Russell. This recording, as well as one made on the Impulse label (Ask Me Now!), place Russell in new musical territory, and he stamps each song with his own inimitable style. Unique musicians have always been rare, but today they are ever rarer. I love this recording (and the Impulse recording). For anyone who values uniqueness."