Renee Rosnes - Black Narcissus

[JSngry]

Trio w/Peter Washington & Lewis Nash. a celebration/tribute/whatever to Joe Henderson. "End result" is predictable, but not the steps along the way, which is about as high an achievemnt as this type thing is gonna offer up, and that, all things considered is as it should be, because if it wasn't, then this is not the music that would be being made.

To put it another way - this is not the type of album that I usually enthuse about, in terms of neither personnel, concept, nor "style". But enthuse about this one i will, because everybody sounds loose, relaxed, and in the same elevated zone. The music flows.

Pretty damn good stuff, and pretty highly recommended.

[Rooster_Ties]

1. Black Narcissus

2. Without A Song

3. You Know I Care

4. Beatrice

5. Recorda Me

6. Chelsea Bridge

7. Isotope

8. What's New

9. Serenity

10. Night And Day

I will definitely try to pick this one up, as it contains two of my favorite of Joe's tunes -- 'Black Narcissus' and 'Isotope', and then 'Beatrice' is the icing on the cake.

Three long-ish samples (mp3's) available here, and similar samples from the entire album are HERE.

Edited November 10, 2008 by Rooster_Ties

[Bright Moments]

no surprise that it is good jim because it seems that everything RR puts out is great!

i will definately pick this one up!

[hepcat1950]

...

To put it another way - this is not the type of album that I usually enthuse about, in terms of neither personnel, concept, nor "style". But enthuse about this one i will, because everybody sounds loose, relaxed, and in the same elevated zone. The music flows.

Pretty damn good stuff, and pretty highly recommended.

To put it another way - this is exactly the type of album that I usually enthuse about, in terms of either personnel, concept, or "style".

Thanks for recommending this one, JSngry.

You might also like Renee Rosnes' collaboration with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen: Friends Forever, which was recorded "in memory of Kenny Drew."

[randyhersom]

I had a cassette of Renee Rosnes Blue Note debut and loved it. Just ordered a CD upgrade of the Blue Note. Also noticed that eMusic has an album called Lexicon br Todd Coolman which features Rosnes and Henderson.

[Alexander]

This is showing up as an import only on CD Universe and Amazon. Is this new and just not out yet? Is it out of print in the US? What's the deal?

[JSngry]

It's a new release, Japan-only, at least so far. Besides Amazon & CDU, it's also been offered at Dusty Groove.

[jazzbo]

I had a cassette of Renee Rosnes Blue Note debut and loved it. Just ordered a CD upgrade of the Blue Note. Also noticed that eMusic has an album called Lexicon br Todd Coolman which features Rosnes and Henderson.

Randy, I have Lexicon on cd, and I think it's a good 'un.

[Tom Storer]

I never really warmed up to Renee Rosnes' music, not sure why. But Peter Washington and Lewis Nash are tops at what they do, and I did see Rosnes when she was in Henderson's "all-girl" rhythm section, so I'll look for this. Thanks for the tip, Jim.

[John Tapscott]

I never really warmed up to Renee Rosnes' music, not sure why. But Peter Washington and Lewis Nash are tops at what they do, and I did see Rosnes when she was in Henderson's "all-girl" rhythm section, so I'll look for this. Thanks for the tip, Jim.

Tom, perhaps it's because of her compositions, which IMO are not at the level of her outstanding (again IMO) jazz piano playing. She always sounds great on other people's music, which is why this release is really one to look for. One of her early CD's on Blue Note, a swinging date with strings (Without Words, is the CD's title, as I recall, and contains mostly standards) has some very strong piano playing.

[Larry Kart]

In a similar vein, I think, guitarist Jack Wilkins' "Reunion":

http://www.jackwilkins.com/recordingsleader/?p=2

(clips there)

with the Brecker brothers (Mike only on two tracks), Eddie Gomez, and Jack DeJohnette. Found it used a week or so ago, and somewhat surprisingly to me (not my favorite players by and large), it's just brimful of life. In part that's because it's very well-recorded -- Gomez, for once, doesn't sound like his instrument is made of cardboard, and a very interactive DeJohnette is right there. One of the tracks with Mike and Randy is Horace Silver's "Break City." Mmm.

[MartyJazz]

I had a cassette of Renee Rosnes Blue Note debut and loved it. Just ordered a CD upgrade of the Blue Note. Also noticed that eMusic has an album called Lexicon br Todd Coolman which features Rosnes and Henderson.

Good album, but be aware that Henderson appears on only two of the nine tracks, the title track "Lexicon" and a stirring version of "Caravan".

Rosnes always did have a close connection with Henderson. I have a Joe Henderson CD titled PUNJAB (Arco), probably very hard to find now, where she is one of a three woman rhythm section that Joe featured at an engagement at "Bradley's" in San Francisco in Nov '86, (includes Marlene Rosenberg (b) and Sylvia Quenca (d) ). Rosnes is listed as "Irene Rosnes" on the date.

A Rosnes-led CD I particularly love that features Henderson is FOR THE MOMENT (Blue Note), recorded in Feb '90. The opening track, a version of "Summer Night", is especially terrific.

[Daniel A]

Rosnes' "Ancestors" (on Blue Note, now deleted - featuring Nicholas Payton and Chris Potter) had some good original compositions. I find it to be her most enjoyable album.

[Tom Storer]

I have a Joe Henderson CD titled PUNJAB (Arco), probably very hard to find now, where she is one of a three woman rhythm section that Joe featured at an engagement at "Bradley's" in San Francisco in Nov '86, (includes Marlene Rosenberg (b) and Sylvia Quenca (d) ).

That's the band I saw in Paris. Henderson introduced himself as Stan Getz but I don't think anyone was fooled.

[Rooster_Ties]

Good album, but be aware that Henderson appears on only two of the nine tracks, the title track "Lexicon" and a stirring version of "Caravan".

Joe's also on a third tune -- Canción Para Cádiz. All three tunes are fairly long too (almost 27 minutes of tunes with Joe).

IMHO, Joe's contribution to all three tunes is as good as anything he recorded in the 90's.

The whole date can be sampled here, and those in the US can hear (stream) the whole thing here for free.

[MartyJazz]

Good album, but be aware that Henderson appears on only two of the nine tracks, the title track "Lexicon" and a stirring version of "Caravan".

Joe's also on a third tune -- Canción Para Cádiz. All three tunes are fairly long too (almost 27 minutes of tunes with Joe).

IMHO, Joe's contribution to all three tunes is as good as anything he recorded in the 90's.

The whole date can be sampled here, and those in the US can hear (stream) the whole thing here for free.

My bad, you're right, Joe's on three tracks. And the CD is a very good one, including the trio tracks as well.

[B. Goren.]

I'm familiar with most of RR recordings, and IMHO, Black Narcissus is one of her best.

[Dave James]

Another nice one from Blue Note featuring Renee Rosnes is "When You Wish Upon A Star" by The Drummonds. Renee is on piano, Ray Drummond on bass and Billy Drummond on drums. I believe Billy is Renee's husband.

Up over and out.

Edited August 12, 2009 by Dave James

[Hot Ptah]

Another nice one from Blue Note featuring Renee Rosnes is "When You Wish Upon A Star" by The Drummonds. Renee is on piano, Ray Drummond on bass and Billy Drummond on drums. I believe Billy is Renee's husband.

Up over and out.

He used to be. She is now married to Bill Charlap.

To get back to Black Narcissus, I think that bassist Peter Washington deserves more wildly positive attention. To me, he is one of those players who makes the entire group sound better--in addition to being an interesting soloist in his own right.