Bill Doyle's Top 10 Jazz Albums

Drummer Bill Doyle and his sweet red Gretsch kit '09

We continue our postings of individual lists from our popular Top 50 Jazz Albums List with Palm Coast's own Bill Doyle. Bill has been keeping things swinging through thick and thin in NE Florida since 2004 with his own trio. He began playing drums at 12, studying under some serious cats including Larry Rosen from the Dave Grusin band; working in the New York/New Jersey area with some of it's top jazz, pop and society musicians. He managed to maintain a part-time music career while becoming quite successful full-time in marketing.

Nowadays Bill is a high-profile musician in St. Augustine, Palm Coast, Daytona Beach and more, performing with stellar musicians like Ray Guiser and Cheryl Page; and especially with his crowd-drawing trio, featuring Don Durkee on piano and Frank Capek on bass. His top 10 jazz albums list is an exposition in exquisite taste!

1. Woody Herman - 1964  When my Dad ,who was a musician,first brought this home I was in awe and could not stop playing it and tried to master playing along with the up tempo tunes.Great charts, great solos and Jake Hanna knew how to push a big band.

2. Dave Brubeck - Time Out My role model as a drummer was Joe Morello (R.I.P.). His skill set and ability to be totally musical was unbelievable. I tried to imitate him in every way. Hah! That's a joke.

3. Lambert, Hendricks and Ross - The Hottest New Group in Jazz  Just too cool and from this I learned to appreciate scat.

4. Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um  Timeless, could have been recorded yesterday.

5. Joe Morello - It's About Time  Again, I loved Joe. This was a straight-ahead jazz album with some very cool work with Phil Woods, Gary Burton and Joe.

6. Jazz Crusaders - Live at the Light House 1966  I can listen to this for hours. Joe Sample grooves as does Wayne Henderson.

7. Sinatra and Basie  Big fan of both.

8. Ella and Basie  Big fan of Ella, too.

9. John Coltrane - Blue Train  He's just too good with Lee Morgan, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones to boot!

10. Tie with all the other great work with great artists!



Thanks Bill for the list and for keeping jazz thriving in PC! You can check out more of Bill at his youtube channel, and below is a video of the Bill Doyle Trio + 2 (Pete Gemski - valve trombone; Larry Dickson - baritone sax) performing at the Three Dogs Grille this past February; they're playing Frank Capek's original "Abba". - PCJ

Lynne Arriale - Solo

Motéma Records ~ MTM-83

Lynne Arriale's adventurous "Solo" has the win/win quality of being both easy to listen to and musically fulfilling. You'll find yourself weaving in and out of relaxed enjoyment, getting kicks and rapt concentration. It's the perfect album for sittin' and ruminatin' in the lazyboy with a piping mug of whatever; or poolside: just you, a frosty glass and the puffy clouds.

The album is reminiscent of Thelonious Monk's finer solo releases (like "Alone in San Fransisco") not simply because Lynne covers two of his works aptly (and imaginatively), but because she's learned a thing or two from both his ability to stimulate the listener rhythmically and harmonically, and his knack for setting a stark emotion with the piano that draws one right in.

Arriale is a fine composer - the opener "La Noche" is a chromatic, brooding mood setter; while "The Dove" is all-out impressionism: here a shade Eastern, there a touch Debussy - just lovely and warranting repeat listens.

Her first Monk cover "Evidence" begins in an inquisitive,  searching manner, gradually building into some of the album's most swinging invention. She manages to bring forth all the tune's mystery, with none of the obligatory aping. 

"Wouldn’t It Be Loverly" floats directly from the "enormous chair": dreamy, romantic, wise and reflective; followed by the pianist's rhapsodic "Will O' The Wisp". Lynne states her independence from the rhythm section with "Yada Yada Yada", a jaunty, angular blues with verve and motion.

Romance skirts on the edge of New Age aesthetics with the lilting "Dance" – one of the real high points of the disc; unforgettable once heard. "Arise" has all the makings of a quality theme for a romance movie, gorgeous and touching if you stick with it.

The best display of Arriale's depth and capacity as a jazz pianist comes on an enigmatic spin of Cole Porter's "What is This Thing Called Love"; anything but an old warhorse here: full of surprises, harmonic inventiveness and delightful tension; all with fluidity and poise.

A minor original "Sea and Sand" is a fine addition to the long line and grand history of slow, haunting, danceable Latin piano ballads. "Bye Ya" begins as a playful exposition on both the composition and the more finer points of Monk's improvisation; but soon develops into a marvel of jazz architecture, revealing distillations from several jazz masters and coming out sounding very much Arriale.

"And So It Goes" is the closer as it is on Billy Joel’s "Storm Front" – a pretty investigation of the familiar melody.

All that and no filler make this a necessary addition to the library of jazz piano lovers, particularly those who might have feared the art of making a real good solo piano album was lost a few decades ago. - PCJ

Sample and pick up your copy of "Solo" at these locations:
Motéma Records Website,
Itunes
Lynne Arriale's Website
or wherever jazz music is sold!

Jazz in June

The closing concert for NEFJA's 2012 season did not disappoint! Doug Carn, Calvin Newborn & Michael Carvin came out of the gates charging - supplying an afternoon of soulful summer jazz in what turned out to be an intimate and  refreshing performance. Below is a clip of Calvin starting to tear it up during the first number.

right to left - Doug Carn, Calvin Newborn, Michael Carvin

Carn & Carvin played with a fire and empathy immediately calling to mind their days together in the '70s;  breathing vigor into standards like I'll Remember April & Body and Soul.  Doug's effortless authority over the hammond and equally adept bandleading skills set the standard, while Carvin's ingenuity and backdrop were nothing short of an education.


Calvin Newborn - a late fill-in for Calvin Keys (recovering from heart surgery) also commanded a stage presence worthy of his legacy. Although at times he struggled to keep up with the faster tempos, he was never short on high quality melodic ideas and nuances, flowing to the point where Doug & Michael broke out in uncontrollable smiles and chuckles of glee.

Doug & Michael burst into smiles over Calvin's triumphs!

Set two saw the addition of Ray Callender on trumpet and Doc Handy on the congas, both playing skillfully and artfully on two Lee Morgan numbers as well as Pensativa by Clare Fischer. The afternoon was capped off by a compellling drum solo on a tune Carvin hadn't played before; a solo that had the audience rapt and on the edge of their seats in delight. 

L-R - Doc Handy, Doug Carn, Ray Callender, Calvin Newborn, Michael Carvin

Although church prevented an early arrival to catch it - a special treat was added to the beginning of the show with a performance by Lee & Sally Quick with Jay Messick. Thanks to NEFJA for a stellar season of jazz in NE Florida! - PCJ

Jay Messick packing up!

Sally & Lee Quick - jazz troupers!