Renee Rosnes - Black Narcissus (2008)

On this release from M&I, Rosnes is paired with the strongest rhythm section a pianist could ask for, Peter Washington on bass and Lewis Nash on drums, and plays Henderson's compositions and jazz standards he played often. Many of the arrangements are reflective of what they used to play together. While Washington and Nash support the leader superbly and turn in great solos when they are called for, it is Rosnes who is front and center in this great trio album. She shines with her beautiful tone, crisp touch, precise rhythm and great swing. Her technique is brilliant, and she shows her deep understanding of the bebop and modal traditions of jazz piano. As we come to expect from all M&I releases, the sound quality of the recording is also superb. A very strong trio album. 

M&I Music Inc., MYCJ-30473, 2008
Recorded 30th-31st January, 2008 at Bennett Studios, New Jersey 

Musicians:
Renee Rosnes - Piano
Peter Washington - Bass
Lewis Nash - Drums 

Tracks:
01. Black Narcissus {Joe Henderson} (4:08)
02. Without A Song {Vincent Youmans} (6:10)
03. You Know I Care {Duke Pearson} (5:59)
04. Beatrice {Sam Rivers} (8:05)
05. Recorda Me {Joe Henderson} (5:36)
06. Chelsea Bridge {Billy Strayhorn} (4:29)
07. Isotope {Joe Henderson} (4:46)
08. What's New {Bob Haggart} (5:47)
09. Serenity {Joe Henderson} (4:34)
10. Night And Day {Cole Porter} (4:09) 

Total Time: 53:43

Credits:
Producer - Makoto Kimata (Key'stone Music), Todd Barkan
Co-Producer - Hiro Yamashita
Executive Producer - Kei Hosoji
Recording Engineer - Katherine Miller
Assistant Engineer - Travis Stefl
Mastering Engineer - Kazuhiro Yamagata [CD Design]
Director - Tatsumi Hayashi
Design - Masanori Yasuda [NPC]
Photo - John Abbott
Photo [Joe & Renee] - Mary Jane
Liner Notes - Renee Rosnes 

Rene Rosnes is a terrific piano player. Exceptional does not do justice to her chops. Here she is doing a Joe Henderson tribute CD (she first played with him early on in her career in '87) with ace Peter Washington whom she plays with often and the fantastic stick man Lewis Nash. The tempo is mostly fast. I found myself not distinguishing the songs from one another and had to concentrate to associate them with Henderson or anybody else. For instance, “Beatrice" the great Sam Rivers tune just loses its character. "Isotope" and "What' New" just blend in with each other. Not until the last cut do, they go from a high energy to really kicking it into overdrive and do an impressive "Night And Day" and those who know Joe Henderson will recall his version that ends his "Inner Urge" LP. I don't know what the hell Cole Porter would have thought of it, but they capture that over the top feeling the Henderson’s version had. This is a good yet not great CD which given the material and players should have been superb. ~ Extract by C. Katz, Amazon.com.