mjzee Posted May 10, 2021 Report Share Posted May 10, 2021 Release date May 28: George Cables should be declared a National Treasure. As a pianist he is surely second-to-none on today's jazz scene. Listen only to "A Valentine for You" on Cables' current offering to hear what a jaw-dropping beauty of tone he can produce from the pile of wood and metal we call a piano, and how much critical mass is behind every sonorous voicing of his chords. As a musician he possesses endless imagination and creativity, shown by his strikingly new takes on tunes we thought we knew, particularly the title track, "Too Close for Comfort," which retains little trace of it's pop song origin. As a composer he has quietly amassed a catalog of works of extremely wide range and extraordinary quality, such as his compositions on this new release, "Circle of Love," "This is My Song," "Klimo" and the aforementioned "A Valentine for You." And finally, the album's cover photo perfectly captures George Cables the man - full of boundless energy, a love of his instrument and the music he makes on it and an impish sense of humor, evidenced by his titling the record Too Close for Comfort during a pandemic where social distancing has become the order of the day. The artist Edward Hopper said, "Great art is the outward expression of an inner life of the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world." That would explain why the world according to George Cables is such a wonderful place to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr jazz Posted May 10, 2021 Report Share Posted May 10, 2021 Always enjoy seeing him with the Cookers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted May 10, 2021 Report Share Posted May 10, 2021 He almost died not too far back, right? Thus the title, not the pandemic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted May 10, 2021 Report Share Posted May 10, 2021 1 hour ago, JSngry said: He almost died not too far back, right? Thus the title, not the pandemic? Diabetes. He had to have a leg removed because of diabetes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted May 10, 2021 Report Share Posted May 10, 2021 Too close... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted May 10, 2021 Report Share Posted May 10, 2021 I saw / heard him play post-amputation. He sounded fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted May 10, 2021 Report Share Posted May 10, 2021 3 hours ago, Hardbopjazz said: Diabetes. He had to have a leg removed because of diabetes. Well, at least I know what "illness" caused him to have to pull out from that Javon Jackson gig. It seems that "having your leg amputated" is a bit beyond an "illness" though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gheorghe Posted May 14, 2021 Report Share Posted May 14, 2021 I also had read about that, such a thing must be a terrible blow. But I have read, that even if someone has diabetes, such terrible things can be avoided if you take care what you eat and take insuline, Diabetes which is not treated can cause blindness and even leg amputation. I heard Cables on serveral occasions. One of them was an allstar quinted with Dizzy, Harold Land, Herbie Lewis and Louis Hayes. And as I remember, Cables only with the trio performed two tunes before Diz and Harold came on stage. And this was in Nov. 1983. Cables played Monk´s "I Mean You", and the swinging standard "All of You", and those tunes came out about the same time on "Four Seasons" also on the Timeless Label, again with Herbie Lewis on bass, and Bobby Hutcherson and Philly Joe Jones. Bolleman writes in his book "Sounds" about that session and that George Cabels was so nice and cooperative, and that Philly J.J. looked like an angry man, but was very very nice an cooperative in the studio, but Bobby Hutcherson was not. I love Bobby Hutcherson´s vibe very very very much, and saw him live, but I didn´t know that he had such a bad behaviour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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