Alex, thanks for the Ryo Fukui clips; I was familiar with the name, but had not heard any of his records.
Listening to both records was an interesting experience. The first clip, "Mellow Dream", did not impress me very much to be honest. His ability as a pianist did impress and is undeniable; but, while Fukui is a very accomplished pianist, he didn’t impress me as a stylist on that record. On the ballads he shows a clear Bill Evans influence and even an occasional bit of McCoy Tyner in his chord voicings; he clearly did his homework.
In my comments re the Metheny/ Vu recording I mentioned the feeling that the great improvisers are able to convey of their improvised solos "going somewhere". It’s something that is hard to put into words and is obviously something that is subjective in part. But, for me, a great improvised solo either conveys the feeling of "beginning-development-ending" in a way that sustains interest in the listener, or it doesn’t. Is the player able to connect the phrases that he plays in a way that each phrase relates to and builds on the one before it in some way? This gives the solo forward movement instead of each phrase sounding like isolated events; that is the genius of great improvisation. On "Mellow Dream", Fukui doesn’t accomplish that, imo; his solos come across as individual isolated phrases that give his solos a kind of static feeling and don’t hold my attention, nor create a feeling of anticipation of where he is going. The surprise for me was that on the record "Scenery" he is much more succesfull in this regard and I find his soloing more interesting and tastier. On this record I hear a more relaxed rhythmic feel. Even more than the static quality in his soloing on "Mellow Dream", the main issue that I had with his playing was the feeling of playing very much on the "front side" of the beat which gives the music a subtle feeling of being rushed; at times, feeling a bit out of control like a ball rolling down the stairs. Clearly a personal preference for me, but his playing on that record is not relaxed enough for me and is lacking in the swagger that the great jazz pianists project. This gets a lot better on "Scenery" and I find this record, overall, much more enjoyable, especially on the ballads. I didn’t like his drummer Fukui (relation?) that much; pretty good time keeper, but his solos are a little rudimentary.
I enjoyed listening to the records for the honesty and lack of pretense in his playing and I am glad to have heard his work. His playing conveys a feeling of "happy" as opposed to the brooding and melancholy feeling of someone like Bill Evans. From that standpoint they are worth hearing. However, if these were in my collection, would they be the first that come to mind when I want to listen to piano trio Jazz? I’m not so sure.
Thanks for the intro and I look forward to Acman3’s impressions.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g-jsW61e_-w
One of my favorite piano players that "nobody ever heard of":
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AGK3cmVD9CU
Listening to both records was an interesting experience. The first clip, "Mellow Dream", did not impress me very much to be honest. His ability as a pianist did impress and is undeniable; but, while Fukui is a very accomplished pianist, he didn’t impress me as a stylist on that record. On the ballads he shows a clear Bill Evans influence and even an occasional bit of McCoy Tyner in his chord voicings; he clearly did his homework.
In my comments re the Metheny/ Vu recording I mentioned the feeling that the great improvisers are able to convey of their improvised solos "going somewhere". It’s something that is hard to put into words and is obviously something that is subjective in part. But, for me, a great improvised solo either conveys the feeling of "beginning-development-ending" in a way that sustains interest in the listener, or it doesn’t. Is the player able to connect the phrases that he plays in a way that each phrase relates to and builds on the one before it in some way? This gives the solo forward movement instead of each phrase sounding like isolated events; that is the genius of great improvisation. On "Mellow Dream", Fukui doesn’t accomplish that, imo; his solos come across as individual isolated phrases that give his solos a kind of static feeling and don’t hold my attention, nor create a feeling of anticipation of where he is going. The surprise for me was that on the record "Scenery" he is much more succesfull in this regard and I find his soloing more interesting and tastier. On this record I hear a more relaxed rhythmic feel. Even more than the static quality in his soloing on "Mellow Dream", the main issue that I had with his playing was the feeling of playing very much on the "front side" of the beat which gives the music a subtle feeling of being rushed; at times, feeling a bit out of control like a ball rolling down the stairs. Clearly a personal preference for me, but his playing on that record is not relaxed enough for me and is lacking in the swagger that the great jazz pianists project. This gets a lot better on "Scenery" and I find this record, overall, much more enjoyable, especially on the ballads. I didn’t like his drummer Fukui (relation?) that much; pretty good time keeper, but his solos are a little rudimentary.
I enjoyed listening to the records for the honesty and lack of pretense in his playing and I am glad to have heard his work. His playing conveys a feeling of "happy" as opposed to the brooding and melancholy feeling of someone like Bill Evans. From that standpoint they are worth hearing. However, if these were in my collection, would they be the first that come to mind when I want to listen to piano trio Jazz? I’m not so sure.
Thanks for the intro and I look forward to Acman3’s impressions.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g-jsW61e_-w
One of my favorite piano players that "nobody ever heard of":
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AGK3cmVD9CU