Jazz Arts Trio - Swing Of Many Colors (2012)

How Swing of Many Colors by Jazz Arts Trio was created makes no difference to me because the end result is pleasing piano jazz. But, I'm sure many of the genre's true aficionados will be appalled as soon as they discover how the album was made - even without ever hearing a note.

The trio's goal while making this album was to exactly duplicate recordings originally made by great jazz pianists they admire. Almost all of the selections on Swing of Many Colors were transcribed note for note - including the bass and drums - and recorded much like classical musicians recreate works that are centuries old. That's the part I believe may upset some of the more devoted jazz fans. It's a genre that takes pride in improvisation and you'll find little of it here.

Jazz Arts Trio are Frederick Moyer on piano, Peter Tillotson on bass, and drummer Peter Fraenkel. They were high school friends who played in a band together, went in separate directions after graduation, then reunited thirty years later.

Moyer has enjoyed an exceptional career as a classical pianist with many recordings and performances on his resume. Details can be found on his website.

Over the years, Tillotson has played with a wide range of classical artists and jazz bands, and he became a sought after session player. His expertise in acoustic amplification led him to become a technical consultant who worked with artists as diverse as Barenaked Ladies, Count Basie Orchestra, Sheryl Crow, Lyle Lovett, Dixie Chicks and John Mayer.

Fraenkel majored in percussion at the New England Conservatory and he has continued to play drums while maintaining a successful psychotherapy practice.

Tracks 1 through 8 are exact replications of Ahmad Jamal's 1958 album, But Not For Me: Live at The Pershing. It's the entire original live album as performed by Jamal and his group except that Jazz Arts Trio's version was produced in a studio.

The two Oscar Peterson tracks, "Night Train" and "Fly Me to The Moon," are perfectly rendered here. Red Garland recorded a traditional folk song, "Billy Boy," while he was part of Miles Davis's rhythm section in 1958 for the trumpeter's album, Milestones, and its one of this disc's more lighthearted tracks.

The last three songs on the CD were treated differently. Marion McPartland released a solo, acoustic piano version of "For All We Know" and Tillotson and Frankel added their own bass and drum parts to Moyer's transcription.

For "All the Things You Are" - a Keith Jarrett cover of a Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein song - the bassist and drummer improvised new rhythms under Moyer's lead, just as they did on Chick Corea's "Matrix." 

Unless you're offended by how this album came to be you'll be treated to some excellent and diverse piano jazz.

Here is an alternative opinion from All About Jazz.

You can buy Swing of Many Colors on iTunes or in various formats on Amazon.