Kenny Drew Trio – April 16 1953
Leonard Feather: Kenny Drew – New – Faces New Sounds – Liner Notes – BLP 5023 – 1953
BLUE NOTE has presented a number of inspired and inspiring modern jazz piano artists in recent years, several of whom were virtually discovered and launched in the record field by this label. Among them are Bud Powell, Wynton Kelly, Thelonious Monk and Horace Silver. This is no less true of Kenny Drew, a native New Yorker who was playing around town for quite some time more or less ignored by the name musicians until Howard McGhee used him on a Blue Note session in January 1950.
Before that time Kenny had gone through a long period of training, starting in 1933 when he was only five years old. After private study, classical training and attendance at Music and Art High School, he began playing professionally soon after graduation by joining Pearl Primus's interpretive dance group.
It was not until after this apprenticeship that Kenny found the opportunity to develop his interest in jazz. After his disc debut with McGhee and consequent acceptance by the big timers, he was heard in clubs or on records with everyone from Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz and Lester Young to Milt Jackson, Sonny Stitt and Buddy DeFranco. It was with Buddy's quartet, touring the country and recording frequently in 1952 and '53, that most jazz fans became familiar with his name and style.
Kenny's solo debut in this set is notable for the colorful variety of the performances, ranging from the brilliant elaboration of Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays" to the swinging simplicity of his own "Drew's Blues." Particularly impressive is his unusual choice of tempos, exemplified by the jump treatments of "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "Be My Love" - the latter might aptly be described as the answer to Lanza!
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| Photo by Francis Wolff |
His rhythm support is entrusted to the capable limbs of Art Blakey, the Pittsburgh born drummer who went through the later years of the swing era (he was Fletcher Henderson's band of 1939) to become one of the foremost percussionists of the new school (Billy Eckstine's band of 1944 to '47); and the eminent bassist Dillon "curly" Russell, another youthful veteran swing graduate, whose early work with the Don Redman and Benny Carter bands led to his participation in the pioneering Gillespie-Parker records that launched bop in 1945.
Kenny's work is cast in the modernist mold, but it seems to owe allegiance to no one model; on the contrary, a careful hearing of these sides will reveal that Kenny has already developed his own personality at the keyboard. He is a proud addition to the growing ranks of the modern jazz piano family.
Kenny Drew - Blue Note Biography
A talented bop-based pianist, Kenny Drew was somewhat underrated due to his decision to permanently move to Copenhagen in 1964. He recorded with Howard McGhee in 1949 and in the 1950s was featured on sessions with a who’s who of jazz, including Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Milt Jackson, Buddy DeFranco, Dinah Washington, and Buddy Rich. Drew made his recorded debut as a leader for Blue Note in 1953 with New Faces, New Sounds, and returned to the label in 1961 to lead the excellent quintet date Undercurrent featuring Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Sam Jones, and Louis Hayes. He also appeared as a sideman on classic Blue Note albums including John Coltrane Blue Train, Dexter Gordon Dexter Calling, Grant Green Sunday Mornin’, and Jackie McLean Bluesnik. Drew moved to Paris in 1961 and relocated to Copenhagen in 1964 where he was co-owner of the Matrix label. He formed a duo with Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson and worked regularly at the Montmartre. Drew recorded many dates for SteepleChase in the 1970s and remained active up until his death.
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| Photo by Francis Wolff |
Leonard Feather Blindfold Test – George Shearing 18 November 1953 Volume 20 Issue 23
Someone else that likes Bud a lot, if it isn’t Bud. If it is Bud, it’s the clearest ending I have ever heard him do. Bud usually seems to enjoy himself so much, but he has only two or three different endings.
You've stumped me again. I don’t know who it is, I think once again the rhythm could be a little clearer and it could be a little more clearcut, idea-wise, but the spirit is there. I'd give it two.
Down Beat 23 September 1953 Volume 20 Issue 19
Often praised on this page for his many excellent solos with De-Franco, 25-year-old Kenny wins his solo colors here with a set of six standards, a blues, and a pretty original.
On occasion he can be simple as all get out (Everything); then he can turn around and be as complex as you like, in the overlong but never dull Yesterdays. At the uptempos, as when he swingingly delanzafies Be My Love, he’s in the Bud Powell class.
Art Blakey and Curly Russell, as you’d expect, are responsible for at least two-thirds of the success of the trio, with Art soloing, not too long or too flashily, in a couple of spots. (Blue Note 5023.)
Session Information
Kenny Drew, piano; Curly Russell, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, April 16, 1953
BN469-3 tk.4, Lover Come Back To Me, Blue Note BLP 5023
BN470-1 tk.6, Yesterdays (alt)
BN470-2 tk.7, Yesterdays, Blue Note BLP 5023
BN471-0 tk.8, Everything Happens To Me, Blue Note BLP 5023
BN472-1 tk.11, Spring Will Be A Little Late, Blue Note BLP 5023
BN473-2 tk.14, Be My Love, Blue Note BLP 5023
BN474-1 tk.16, Drew's Blues, Blue Note BLP 5023
BN475-0 tk.17, Gloria, Blue Note BLP 5023
BN476-1 tk.19, Stella By Starlight, Blue Note BLP 5023
BN471-2 tk.20, Everything Happens To Me (alt)
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