Jazz from Keystone - Thunder and Rainbows [Sunnyside] (CD)

All Music Guide

Assembled by producer Todd Barkan in 1991, Jazz From Keystone is an all-star trio consisting of pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Charles Fambrough, and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts. Listeners might wonder why the group had that name; one logical assumption is that Barkan meant Keystone as in Pennsylvania, the Keystone State -- and in fact, Fambrough is from Philadelphia, while Watts was born in Pittsburgh. Kirkland, however, was born in Newport, NY. And even though two-thirds of Jazz From Keystone has a Pennsylvania connection, Barkan didn't mean Keystone as in Keystone State. He meant Keystone as in ~Keystone Corner, a famous San Francisco jazz club that he owned in the '70s and early '80s. Thunder and Rainbows was meant to capture the spirit of ~Keystone Corner, a place that, like ~the Aqua Lounge in Philly or ~Donte's in Los Angeles, was known for attracting serious hardcore jazz fans. And hardcore jazz is exactly what Jazz From Keystone provides on this CD -- specifically, hardcore jaz...z of the acoustic post-bop variety. Jazz From Keystone doesn't inundate listeners with Tin Pan Alley warhorses; instead, they turn their attention to original material as well as post-bop pieces like Keith Jarrett's "Rainbow" and Wayne Shorter's "Black Nile." One could nitpick about the fact that Thunder and Rainbows was recorded in New York instead of the Bay Area; if this CD is meant to be a tribute to a famous West Coast club, shouldn't it have been recorded on the West Coast? Not necessarily. The late Grover Washington Jr. spent much of his adult life in Philly, but that doesn't mean that a Washington tribute couldn't be recorded by Scandinavian improvisers who live in Stockholm or Copenhagen. Jazz, after all, should be about interpretation, not emulation. Thunder and Rainbows is a CD that Barkan can easily be proud of. - Alex Henderson, All Music Guide Read more Less