1. I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling
2. You Are My Lucky Star
3. What’s New
4. Marie
5. The Last Time I Saw Paris
6. I May Be Wrong
7. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
8. There'll Be Some Changes Made
9. Wabash Blues
10. Yearning
Bob Barnard – Cornet
Jim Galloway - Soprano sax
Henri Chaix – Piano
Isla Eckinger – Bass
Romano Cavicchiolo – Drums
Recorded at a concert in Baden, Switzerland in 1997, this
album brings together Australian cornettist and Scottish-born Canadian
saxophonist Jim Galloway, with the trio of Swiss pianist Henri Chaix.
Both Barnard and Galloway are excellent instrumentalists, able to
growl on their instruments as well as to play with sweet smoothness.
Barnard is adept at producing pleasingly logical solos, while Galloway
is able to play glissandos reminiscent of Johnny Hodges.
Bob Barnard seems to owe more to the influence of Louis Armstrong than (say) Ruby Braff, playing with a thrusting style which belies the usually soft sound
of the cornet. By contrast, Jim Galloway plays the soprano sax with a moderation which sets him apart from more extrovert soprano saxists like Sidney
Bechet. The two men blend well together, often creating tasteful counterpoint, as at the start of Marie and There’ll Be Some Changes Made
.
The front-liners are well supported by the Henri Chaix Trio. Henri’s piano-laying has occasional echoes of Fats Waller and Erroll Garner, but in general he
is his own man, with a generous use of the sustain pedal to keep the music flowing. Bassist Isla Eckinger supplies shapely solos on such tracks as You Are My Lucky Star, where he also accompanies Barnard in a nice duet. Drummer Romano Cavicchiolo is virtually inaudible for much of the album,
although he contributes some well-structured drum breaks to Marie and I’m Getting Sentimental Over You, and he can actually be heard in I May Be Wrong and There’ll Be Some Changes Made.
Altogether, this is an album of unpretentious, swinging jazz.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Sackville SKCD2-3064
