brignolafan

I couldn't agree more. When I was speaking to Roberta, his ex-wife but still manager, she talked about how Ronnie had dreamed of getting to record on Milestone. I loved all of his Steeplechase albums (some more than others), but there was a period where he was on labels that didn't do him justice, during which I enjoyed his sideman appearances more. Xanadu was gone, and Milestone was one of the classic American labels with a storied tradition still in operation. Is "Scene" slick? Unquestionably, but Ronnie still plays wonderfully, and I have always been a fan of Keezer. Needless to say he has matured in both musicianship and personality, but he's unquestionably a magnificent pianist. Ronnie's Airplay was my introduction to Keezer, and I was blown away. Ronnie played with a lot of pianists, but I particularly liked those albums with Keezer, Kenny Drew Jr., and George Colligan.

I have always been a fan of Mulligan, Adams, Cuber, and Brignola but I have to say I keep coming back to Nick Brignola when I really want to hear a master of the instrument. His altissimo control was outstanding.

I love Mulligan (I have over 120 LPs and 50 CDs with him as a leader) , but I don't choose to sound that way. My big problem with Carney is the vibrato, though he was the DEFINITIVE section anchor. I have a lot of Chaloff's stuff, but I agree with Pepper Adams's assessment that he had a "nanny-goat" vibrato. I want to like Cecil Payne, but all the recordings I've heard seem to sound buzzy. I want to hear balls-to-the-wall on baritone. I loved Nick Brignola. In my opinion, he made every instrument he played sound like his main axe. Scott Robinson can do that too. I have great admiration for that kind of doubling prowess. Bruce Johnstone is a great player. I heard him in Toronto with Don Menza a few years back. He's still sounding good. very soulful, but not a "chops" Player. Pepper Adams was the man. He developed his own vocabulary and was a completely unique voice on the instrument. A couple of canadians, one of whom has been mentioned, deserve notice. Chris Mitchell is a friend of mine from halifax, Nova Scotia. I remember when he called to tell me he'd hired Phil Woods to play on his CD. I asked if he was playing alto on those cuts and he said "FUCK NO! Not alongside Phil. Chris is a fine player of all the saxes". Another great Canadian is Charles Papasoff in Montreal. He put 6 baritonists together for his "International baritone Conspiracy" Including Hamiett Bluiett and another great canadian baritone player: David Mott. Mott is from Chicago but, like pat labarbera, we have claimed him cuz he's lived here longer than he lived in the USA. http://www.davidmott.com Of course Glenn Wilson is a monster, Smulyan is the heir apparent to Pepper Adams, and Ronnie Cuber rocks. There are so many more: Bob Gordon Tate Houston Billy Root Jack Nimitz Danny Bank Gene Allen Howard Johnsos Ronnie Ross