Walter Bishop Jr. Trio

Walter Bishop Jr. Trio – Speak Low Again (1993) [Japan 2018]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 44:22 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 1,78 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 0,97 GB

This is one of the last sessions by Walter Bishop, Jr. prior to his death in 1998. The veteran bop pianist is in great form on this trio date with bassist Paul Brown and drummer Al Harewood, which mixes standards, bop classics, and several originals. Bishop’s jaunty approach to ‘Yardbird Suite’ is a gem, while his lush treatment of ‘The Masquerade Is Over’ finds the rhythm section staying softly in the background. He revisits ‘Speak Low,’ a centerpiece of his first date as a leader some 32 years earlier, playfully detouring into Billy Strayhorn’s ‘Rain Check’ and leaving room for a few drum breaks by Harewood. His ‘Valley Land’ is an intense mid-tempo samba, while ‘Keiko’s Samba’ kicks into a higher gear. This Japanese SACD on the Venus label is worth seeking. (more…)