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photo for
high rez image
(photo credit:
Judy Kirtley)
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When I
first heard Bill Mays play in the early ’80s at Toronto’s
famed Café des Copains, I was immediately struck by
his cool arrangements, delicate lyricism and virtuosic technique.
Just listen to any cut from three earlier recordings—One
To One, One To One II (with renowned
bassist Ray Drummond) and Live at Maybeck Hall (with celebrated
Toronto guitarist, Ed Bickert), and you’ll hear what
I mean. How does someone get this good? The great fortune
to be born into a musical family…and hard work! At the
age of sixteen, Bill joined the U.S. Navy Band, enabling him
to study formally and work with a number of fine jazz musicians
in Washington, D.C. After the Navy, he moved to Los Angeles,
and soon was working with the best west-coast jazz artists.
Before long, he was one of the busiest studio musicians on
the scene, playing sessions for Hollywood film scores and
accompanying such top singers as Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra.
From any standpoint, he had it made. But he was dissatisfied.
The money was good, but the music he mostly wanted to play
was jazz. So in order to hone his craft, he made the decision
to leave L.A. and move to New York, just as many jazz greats
had done before him. In this stimulating environment he became
the triple-threat he is today—a composer, arranger and
pianist of remarkable depth and stylistic variety. Now here
he is, accompanied by two of Canada’s most respected
jazz greats: bassist Neil Swainson (long-time member of The
Moe Koffman Quintet and bass player of choice for jazz piano
legend, George Shearing) and drummer Terry Clarke (one of
the most in-demand musicians on the jazz scene, who divides
his time between Toronto and New York). Recorded at The Montreal
Bistro and Jazz Club on the final night of an exciting week-long
engagement, every song on this CD is a stand-out, with rock-solid
performances by each member of the trio. It opens with the
title song, “Bick’s Bag,” a gospel-funk offering
that turns into a swinging tribute to Bill’s former partner,
Ed Bickert. From there, the trio takes us on an engaging musical
journey—sensitive (“Laura”) to contemplative
(“Paradigm”) to hard-driving (”Hallucinations”).
So pull up the best seat in the house, hit play, close your
eyes, and step into the Montreal Bistro and Jazz Club to experience
the artistry of Bill Mays, Neil Swainson and Terry
Clarke.
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