Liner Notes
Jay Leonhart Trio: Cool
(Sons of Sound SSPCD022)
My first musical heroes were Oscar Peterson, Ray
Brown, and Herb Ellis. The magnificent manner in
which they played and swung was eye-opening for
me as a teenager back in 1954 and is still astounding
to me fifty years later. They helped me decide
what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I
had already begun playing the bass and I decided
I would try to make the bass sound as rich and
full and gorgeous as Ray Brown made it sound – so
deep, in tune, buoyant, and vital to the music
at all times.
Pianist Ted Rosenthal grew up listening to Oscar
and the many pianists who have evolved since Oscar’s
early days – pianists like Bill Evans, Keith
Jarrett, McCoy, and Errol Garner. Ted’s conception
and technique show a lot of breadth and originality,
and he’s not afraid to make the piano swing
like OP.
Guitarist Joe Cohn did not have Herb Ellis as
one of his major influences as he grew up but still
he did have the great time players and guitar soloists
in mind. Joe is a brilliant and most original player.
He plays deeply musical accompanying lines and
spins out remarkable solos as you will hear all
through “Cool,” our first CD together
as a trio.
I’m afraid that “Cool” isn’t
nearly as laid back as the title might imply. The
music does get hot inside this CD from time to
time. The opening track, “Take Four,” blows
our cover immediately. This straight-ahead swinger
by Joe Cohn’s father, Al Cohn, puts the trio
on a slightly hotter track from the outset. Take
note of Joe and Ted’s little unison figure
behind the bass solo. It’s a series of eight
note runs in 5/8 time phrases that they came up
with in rehearsal one day.
Track two, “If I only Had a Brain,” was
arranged by Ted Rosenthal. His new harmonies make
the song even more interesting as a jazz piece.
I like the bass stating the melody on the last
chorus - that big, glorious hunk of wood saying
if it only had a brain. Or maybe it’s talking
about me.
Track three is the Bernstein and Sondheim masterpiece “Cool.” I
started singing this song when people started asking
me to sing another Bernstein song after my original
piece “Me and Lenny,” an account of
a plane ride with Bernstein himself. I try to explain
that Lenny didn’t write my song, but to no
avail. If you don’t know “Me and Lenny” I
strongly suggest you download it from the Internet
at once, lest your collection be woefully incomplete.
“Nobody Else But Me” is another Ted
Rosenthal arrangement, a great little track that
you could actually dance to if you wanted to, and
if you’re over fifty.
“Shall We Dance” is a classic contribution
by Rodgers and Hammerstein from the musical South
Pacific. Ted arranged it for the trio so that
we could all dance the night away.
“My Bluebird” is Tommy Flanagan’s “Beyond
the Bluebird” with a lyric that I wrote with
Tommy’s permission. “Beyond the Bluebird” was
originally written to commemorate the legendary
jazz club in Detroit, The Bluebird Inn. At the
Bluebird Inn, Tommy played with other future jazz
giants like Paul Chambers, Kenny Burrell and Elvin
Jones back when they were all young pups. Tommy
moved on from the Bluebird Inn in 1956. In “My
Bluebird” I wrote a lyric about a friendly
bluebird that tells me stuff I need to hear. I
may write another lyric to the song about the actual
Bluebird Inn and Tommy’s time there. Tommy
was one of the most beloved musicians in Jazz.
He passed away in November of 2001.
Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz” is
classic piece of American music that Joe and Ted
play beautifully together. I have been playing “Jitterbug
Waltz” with John Bunch and Bucky Pizzarelli
in their trio for years and have come to love the
song. When it came time for the bass solo on this
track, the bow just jumped into my hands, and I
couldn’t say no.
You need some serious chutzpah going to dare to
re-harmonize a Duke Ellington piece of music, but
that’s what we do with “C Jam Blues.” I
hope Duke isn’t upset. And we do get around
to the plain old wonderful blues changes after
a while. To me that’s what jazz is about
anyway - blues changes and “Body and Soul.”
Joe taught us “You and Me,” another
Al Cohn composition that ultimately gets played
over the changes to “Tea For Two.” When
we’re trying to find the appropriate tempo
for “You and Me” in our performances
we usually tell Joe to count it off - “he’s your father.”
“I Loves You Porgy” gives me a chance
to wander out of tempo through a Gershwin classic,
accompanied alternately by Ted and Joe. This track is cool.
Ted contributed the arrangement for “Bopkick” from
the Nat King Cole Trio. You need to be very comfortable
with the cycle of fifths starting on F sharp to
survive a chorus in this song.
“For Real” is a song I wrote first
and put words to later. Usually I write the words
first and find the music. I could have written
an easier melody, I guess. With all the diminished
runs, the pitches are a challenge. If you want
to try to sing it, go to www.jayleonhart.com and
I’ll e-mail you the music just for asking.
“Two Funky People” is another Al Cohn
contribution to our CD. I have wonderful memories
of Al and Zoot Sims playing deep into the night
at The Half Note down on Spring Street in New York
during the fifties and the sixties - Zoot dropping
his empty shot glass into the extended hand of
the bartender down below the bandstand. The bartender
wouldn’t even look - just stick his hand
out and Zoot would hit it with perfect aim. I was
in my early twenties and would go to see Zoot and
Al and hope that I would get to play that kind
of music for a living. I think they were the two
funky people this song is about. I want to be a
funky person when I grow up (but I’ll have
to pass up the shot glass routine).
— Jay Leonhart
August 2004
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