The fifth in
Ray Brown's series of recordings pairing his working trio with several different musicians from the same family of instruments (although one volume was exclusively singers) features a half-dozen guitarists, ranging from fellow
Oscar Peterson alumni
Herb Ellis (who worked with
Brown in the pianist's most famous trio) and
Ulf Wakenius to veteran
Kenny Burrell, as well as seasoned players like
John Pizzarelli and
Bruce Forman and the rising star
Russell Malone. Each song sounds as if the group could be a working quartet, due to the great interaction between the trio and each guest.
Pizzarelli shines in a bluesy, strutting take of
Duke Ellington's "Just Squeeze Me" (erroneously labeled as
Fats Waller's "Squeeze Me") which has a nice series of exchanges between the guitarist and the leader.
Ellis brings back memories of the
Oscar Peterson Trio with a heated performance of "I Want to Be Happy" during which pianist
Geoff Keezer is up to the task of carrying on where
Ellis left off.
Wakenius is the guest on a particularly moody take of "My Funny Valentine."
Burrell,
Forman, and
Malone also fare nicely on each of their pair of tracks, so it's very easy to recommend this very enjoyable disc.
–
Ken Dryden, Rovi