duaneiac

This CD deserves a thousand s! A definite desert island disc for me.

Yes, indeed -- and beautiful too!

I wonder if this performance were included in a blindfold test, just how many people would identify OP based on his playing here? He was far from a one-trick pony.

"Jazz"? "Non-Jazz"? I dunno. I do know that even mean old Grinchy McScrooge would begrudgingly have to give this Christmas tune a slight nod of approval. "Natal" - Cesaria Evora

Some may debate whether or not this fits the category of "jazz", but if you enjoy this style of music, there is a good time to be found here.

I have been listening (perhaps obsessively) to Bruce Springsteen's Western Stars CD for the past couple of weeks. To me, it's the best thing I've heard all year. It's quite different from the high energy rockers his concerts are famous for. These are finely crafted songs in a variety of moods that do meld together to form a cohesive and powerful album. Even if you don't like Mr. Springsteen as a singer/performer, it would be foolish to dismiss his talents as a songwriter. Here are a couople of tracks from this CD as examples. First, "The Wayfarer". On another internet forum, I posited the notion that his is in fact a Peggy Lee song. Thematically, it would have fit in perfectly as the opening track of her Blues Cross Country album, although stylistically, it would fit in more with her later 1960's collaborations with Lieber & Stoller. I can literally hear Peggy Lee singing this song, using practically the same arrangement. She would have loved being the confident woman in charge, the one doing the leaving, not the one doing the left behind. It's easy to imagine that song done as an up-tempo rocker complete with a Clarence Clemmons sax solo in place of that orchestral break. Kudos to Mr. Springsteen for avoiding that easy path and stretching himself a bit. But Peggy lee would have stone cold owned that song! Next, "Moonlight Motel". Notice the shifts in time/location and the very economical time transition he uses. He includes enough sensory details to make the story intriguing, but not too singularly personal. This is just a damn well written song.

This is the album recorded the day before the Jimmy Ponder Christmas album noted above. Some nice cover tunes and then, out of the blue, there was this PHENOMENALLY GROOVY tune!! As of today, only 14 people have listened to this track on YouTube, but believe me, for the best 6 minutes of your day, ya gotta listen to this! Nothing on the Christmas album comes close to matching that energy and level of groove.

I've grown to like this one more and more over the years. Nothing flashy, just a relaxed, cozy session of familiar and cherished tunes. It's kinda like if you had five really cool and talented friends who volunteered to play the music at you Christmas party this year. Mr. Ponder's solo acoustic version of "The Christmas Song" caps off the proceedings nicely and makes one appreciate just how lovely a melody that is. For those of you who simply hate Christmas music, there is a positive side to this CD just for you -- it only has 9 tunes, so it's finished before you know it. This same quartet recorded a session of regular material the day before this June 17, 1998 session. I have that CD too and should look it up and give it a listen.

This was rather out-of-the-ordinary for Concord (home to more mainstream musicians like Gene Harris, Ray Brown, Marian McPartland and Scott Hamilton), so I am guessing they bought the rights to release this album from Mr. Wein as a one-time deal and maybe they no longer have the rights to reissue it. I've looked for it for a long time too.

Joey DeFrancesco knew and recorded a CD with him (using the alias "Joe Doggs") years ago: