Russell Malone, Playground - 1h 1m 31s

Tracks & Durations

1. You Should Know Better	6:38
2. Blues For Mulgrew	4:32
3. Something To Live For	3:53
4. Sugar Buzz	4:46
5. Playground	5:25
6. Remind Me	4:21
7. We've Only Just Begun	4:59
8. Invisible Colors	6:50
9. Mandela	7:05
10. You've Got A Friend	6:14
11. Mugshot (video)	6:40

Note: The information about this album is acquired from the publicly available resources and we are not responsible for their accuracy.

Review

The Max Jazz label couldn't have picked a better artist to debut their String Series than guitarist Russell Malone. Malone's résumé already boasts high-profile gigs with Ray Brown, Branford Marsalis, and Diana Krall, plus recordings as a leader with Columbia and Verve. On this recording, his playing--with shades of George Benson, Grant Green, and Wes Montgomery--is clear and even-toned on old standards like Billy Strayhorn's evergreen ballad, "Something to Live For." But he can also change up the groove, as evidenced by his Latin take on the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun." On unaccompanied readings of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend" and the Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields number "Remind Me," his solo sound evokes Joe Pass's intimate timbres. The CD also spotlights Malone's growing compositional chops, as evidenced by the live CD-ROM bonus track, "Mugshot," the hyper-bop diity "Sugar Buzz" (with vibraphonist Joe Locke), and the Coltrane-styled "Mandela," which features Gary Bartz on alto saxophone. --Eugene Holley, Jr.Malone has the honor of launching the Strings Series for MAXJAZZ with his label debut Playground (April 6, 2004), which features his working band of Martin Bejerano, piano; Tassili Bond, bass; E.J. Strickland, drums and guests Gary Bartz, saxophone; and Joe Locke, vibes. All arrangements are by Malone, who also produced the CD and wrote six of the ten tracks.

Other Versions

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Playground

Tracks: 10 (-1 tracks), Disk length: 52m 18s (-10m 47s)

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