The Drummonds featuring Renee Rosnes - A Beautiful Friendship (2001)

Renee has a brilliant command of her instrument, is willing to take chances, and hears music in a way that few jazz musicians do. Deep down she comes across as a romantic at heart, and as a result her music is absorbing, fun, easy to hear, and beautiful. She has paid her dues playing with everyone and has incredible chops. This is what jazz piano is all about. She plays with so much sentiment, so tenderly and expertly executed! There is not much more to say other than she's an awesome, gorgeous and is a major composer and pianist. To sum up a superb pianist who rarely fails to enthrall and delight conveying a lively spirit, fire and passion. This is especially showcased on this date. Her association with both Ray & Billy Drummond has been a highlight in the earlier part of her blossoming career. This album in many ways is the better of the other four albums she collaborated on for the Japanese label Video Arts Music between 2000 and 2003, Enjoy! 

Video Arts Music, VACY-1032, 2002
Recorded 19th & 20th June, 2001 at The Studio, New York, N.Y.

Musicians:
Renee Rosnes - Piano
Ray Drummond - Bass
Billy Drummond - Drums 

Tracks:
01. My One And Only Love {Guy Wood, Robert Mellin} (5:53)
02. Body And Soul {Green, Heyman, Sour, Eyton} (5:46)
03. Never Let Me Go {Ray Evans, Jay Livingston} (5:36)
04. Little Girl Blue {Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart} (5:40)
05. Gone With The Wind {Herbert Magidson, Allie Wrubel} (4:51)
06. Once I Loved {Antônio Carlos Jobim} (4:58)
07. Angel Eyes {Matt Dennis, Earl Brent} (6:55)
08. Stella By Starlight {Victor Young} (7:16)
09. Everything {Toshiaki Matsumoto} (4:32)
10. A Beautiful Friendship {Donald Kahn, Stanley Styne} (4:46) 

Total Time: 56:13

Credits:
Producer - Makoto Kimata & Todd Barkan [Key'stone Music]
Engineer, Mixing & Mastering - Katherine Miller
Assistant Engineer - Eiji Takasugi
Mastering - Todd A. Gerard [Gerard Sound Lab, NYC]
Technical Coordinator - Derek Kwan
Photo - Jack Frish

The Drummonds feat. Renee Rosnes - When You Wish Upon A Star (1999)

Ray Drummond and Billy Drummond are not related, but they're two of the most in-demand rhythm section players in jazz, and here they've teamed up under the name the Drummonds for a delightful collection of standards. At the piano is Renee Rosnes, with her Midas touch. Rosnes, incidentally, is related by marriage to Billy Drummond, so technically, she too is a Drummond. The trio sticks to well-known standards, but they throw a good many curves. Highlights include a bossa treatment of "The Sound of Silence"; a grooving, non-ballad rendition of "Nature Boy"; a heavily re-harmonized "Autumn in New York"; a reworked bridge on "Over The Rainbow"; a brisk, Bill Evans-style waltz arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star"; and a passing reference to Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma" at both the beginning and end of "Like Someone In Love." We may have heard these tunes many times before, but when these three play them together, it's an event. ~ by David R. Adler, AMG. 

Video Arts, VACY-1027, 1999
32 Jazz, 32204, 2000
Recorded 4th-5th August, 1999 at Avatar Recording Studio, New York City 

Musicians:
Ray Drummond - Bass
Billy Drummond - Drums
Renee Rosnes - Piano 

Tracks:
01. Nature Boy {Eden Ahbez} (7:11)
02. Autumn In New York {Vernon Duke} (6:09)
03. Over The Rainbow {Harold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg} (5:33)
04. Alone Together {Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz} (7:02)
05. When You Wish Upon A Star {Leigh Harline, Ned Washington} (5:43)
06. Danny Boy {Frederick Edward Weatherly} (3:49)
07. Lullaby Of Birdland {George Shearing, George David Weiss} (5:54)
08. The Sound Of Silence {Paul Simon} (5:16)
09. Polka Dots And Moonbeams {Johnny Burke, James Van Heusen} (6:37)
10. Like Someone In Love {Johnny Burke, James Van Heusen} (6:05) 

Total Time: 59:19

Credits:
Producer - Todd Barkan, Makoto Kimata
Recording Engineer - Dan Gellert
Mastering Engineer - Todd A. Gerard [Gerard Sound Studio]