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Remembering Bobby DarinRoger Kellaway, Bruce Forman, Dan Lutz
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ejazznews.com - There can be no finer tribute to Bobby Darin than this recording. One can feel the heart and soul that went into the choice of tunes, the arrangements as well as the interpretive powers of the fine trio. This music is truly a 'piece d'occasion' and the occasion is now. 5 STARS
JazzReview.com - The Roger Kellaway Trio heralds the piano man's new direction. Feeling comfortable in the piano, guitar and bass trio format, he dazzles the listener with a fresh, new sound. "Splish Splash" finds the trio playing with the rock classic in the way Vince Guaraldi worked the Peanuts themes. Their nine minute reading of "Once Upon A Time" is destined to be a jazz favorite. The trio concept shows its merit too on their swinging treatment of Darin favorites "Beyond The Sea", "Mack The Knife" and a particularly stunning "I'm Beginning To See The Light."
Jersey Jazz - If anything, the results are even more satisfying this time out. He has found two players who fit perfectly with his eclectic approach to playing jazz piano. The interplay that they achieve is often breathtaking. If you had told me that I would ever hear an outstanding jazz version of "Splish Splash," I would have told you to have another drink and get a lot of rest. Now I would just smile, and indicate that Kellaway, Foreman and Lutz have already covered this one quite nicely, thank you. This is a thoroughly refreshing disc.
"Remembering Bobby Darin" is the first recording by the newly-formed Roger Kellaway Trio, featuring Bruce Forman on guitar and Dan Lutz on bass. The recording is a companion to Roger's brilliant solo recording, "I Was There" (IPOC1006), a selection of tunes associated with Bobby Darin that is "destined to become one of the definitive, solo piano albums" according to MusicWeb. "Remembering Bobby Darin" includes additional material long associated with Darin, for whom Roger served as musical director in the late 1960s, and introduces the new Roger Kellaway Trio, which Roger will use as the main platform for his future jazz performances.
"My new trio," Roger says, "represents the fulfillment of a desire dating back to my teens-----to have a Nat Cole/Oscar Peterson type trio. This combination is more intimate than the common piano/bass/drums trio. Also, the responsibility of making music together in this ensemble is more like 'chamber music.'
"I'm feeling a strong desire to 'swing' as a main part of this trio's music. I want to 'give back' some of the wonderful lessons I've learned playing and recording for 35 years with some of the greatest musicians in the world.
Bruce Forman first asked me, 'What do you want?' I said, 'First of all, we swing, then we 'tour the planets'! He said, 'I'm your man!' An added attraction is that both Bruce and Dan Lutz are comfortable playing 'odd-times' [7/4;11/4, etc] I delight in this revelation!"
Featured Artists
Roger Kellaway & Eddie Daniels
(From BillBoard review of latest IPO release)
Clarinetist Eddie Daniels and pianist Roger Kellaway have been both revered and sublimated by critics and listeners during their long and sometimes obscured careers. Make no mistake, though -- they are great musicians who somehow do not get the credit they deserve as true jazz masters. When Daniels has played more commercially oriented music, he's branded a sellout, while Kellaway's profile is so low-key, he's practically off the radar except when releasing a recording. Fact is, Daniels is as limber, facile, tuneful, and literate as any clarinet player on the contemporary scene, while Kellaway's understated brilliance is balanced by a sense of wonder and empowerment tempered by a veteran's common sense and deep wisdom. Both have made important strides in recent years to change minds and hearts with several very fine efforts in the modern mainstream idiom, but these duets recorded live at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles have to be a high watermark for them, individually and together... This is a wondrous duet date featuring extraordinary musicians taking chances and thankfully succeeding on all levels, not the least of which are in the enviable elements of pace, placement, and depth.
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