Paul Smith Quartet - Softly, Baby (1957) [2011 Jazz名盤 999 Best & More] CD-Rip

A great Capitol moment from pianist Paul Smith – an artist who really cut some of his best material ever for the label ! The Smith sound is at the height of its powers here in the late 50s — kind of a blend of jazz and more easy-going pianistic modes — often stretched out with lots of flourishes by Smith on the keys, but never the too-flowery styles used by some of his contemporaries ! Instead, Paul keeps things nice and lean — always enough to be plenty swinging in all the right moments — with quartet help from Barney Kessel on guitar, Joe Mondragon on bass, and Stan Levey on drums.


Tracks:

01 - Softly
02 - Taking A Chance On Love
03 - Easy To Love
04 - Long Live Phineas
05 - I Didn't Know What Time It Was
06 - I'll Remember April
07 - Invitation
08 - I Got Rhythm
09 - The Man I Love
10 - Blues A La P.T.

Personnel:

Paul Smith - piano
Barney Kessel - guitar
Joe Mondragon - bass
Stan Levey - drums