Jimmy Rowles spent much of a busy career as a sideman in great demand. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to work with Jimmy. But he also recorded as a leader quite frequently. Trouble was that many of his sessions were on obscure, hard to find labels. Likely released in 2009 or 2010 on the Jazz Ball label, I stumbled upon it recently. It features Jimmy in two settings plus a couple of bonus tracks. Some of the material has never been issued on compact disc, making this a real treat. Jimmy was, of course, a master of subtlety and the best ever at making dissonant chords sound absolutely great and oh-so-right. With Rufus Reid, bass, and Mickey Roker, drums, he plays four tunes from Miles' "Birth Of The Cool": Namely, "Jeru", "Venus De Milo", "Godchild", and "Darn That Dream". On the other session he's joined by George Mraz and Leroy Williams on "Here's That Rainy Day", "I Can't Get Started", "In The Still Of The Night", and the surprise of the set, "Stars And Stripes Forever", of all things. These and more find Jimmy in primo piano posture. It'll be a tough one to find. But Jimmy Rowles always made it worth the search.
Jazz Ball; probably 2009 or 2010; 66:25.
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