Peter Friedman

Haydn - Cello Concerto No.1 in D major & Ries - Symphony No.7, Op.181

Beethoven - Piano Trio No.3, Op.1/3 & Schubert -Impromptus D935

Piano Concerto No.3 and No.4

I saw Dexter live 3 times. Don't remember the dates, but the first 2 times (once in Detroit, and the other in Toronto) were soon after he returned to the USA after his long stay in Europe. Both those times Dexter was in great form and the music was wonderful. The third time I saw he was much later, (also in Toronto) and he was in terrible shape, and his playing was embarrassing. The rhythm section of Kirk Lighsey, David Eubanks and Eddie Gladden were excellent and made up partially for Dexter's terrible performance. However when it comes to recordings, Dexter reigns supreme over most others of his generation. Most of his Steeplechase and Blue Note albums are , in my view simple fantastic. I also am a large fan of most of his Prestige albums. Though Sonny Stitt was a fantastic player and I love a number of his recordings, the special chemistry I get from Dexter is not there for me with Stitt. One area that demonstrates( to me) the difference between Dexter and Stitt is on ballads. Stitt's ballads sound rather routine and nothing special. Stitt is a far more interesting player on medium and up tempo tunes. But Dexter is a ballad player supreme. Many of his ballads grab me deep down.Yet his medium and uptempo playing is also often fabulous.

Sammy Price with Vic Dickenson, Jonah Jones, Pete Brown, Milt Hinton, Cozy Cole

Raff - String Quartet No.8, Op.192/3 & Goetz - Piano Trio Op.1

Gary Smulyan & Joe Magarelli Quintet

Reicha - String Quartet Op.49/1 & Mozart - Piano Concerto No.21, K.467 - Brendel

This is the one from the recent selections that I most enjoy. Buddy Tate blends perfectly with the great Ed Bickert Trio.

Rob Van Bavel is a damn fine jazz piano player. I only very recently became aware of his very good recordings. His playing on the Klaus Weiss Trio album is what grabbed my attention.

Spohr - Double String Quartet Op.65 & Dvorak - Piano Trio Op.90 "Dumky"

Beethoven String Quartet No.16, Op.135 & Mendelssohn - Piano Concerto No.1, Op.25

My only time in Slug's was to see the Bill Hardman- Junior Cook Quintet with Walter Bishop,Jr., Paul Brown and Leroy Williams. Though it was a long time ago, I recall that the music was outstanding.

Art Taylor only made a few albums as leader. These three are all very good, in my opinion.