George Mraz Trio - Plucking & Bowing (2015)

This album is a true treasure found, specially for us bass players. The trio is exceptional, and here in 1978 (when it was recorded in New York) George Mraz is already at the height of his magical powers. I was thinking of reviewing each track and commenting on this and that, but I'd rather just spend the time and space thinking about the extraordinary bass playing you hear on this long delayed CD. Bass players have taken to lovingly referring to George as "The Bad Czech" with "bad" being used only in the most complimentary sense.

One thing I note about George's approach is that he is both a technical whiz kid and a profound musician. His solos have such a free and melodic air to them, while his background playing is full of life and rhythm. It seems like he built his playing on everything he had heard up to this point. He took it all, put it in a blender, then threw in a huge helping of his own originality and musicality, and flipped the switch. His fellow musicians on this CD, Tom Garvin and Peter Donald are nothing less than very, very good. Their playing is flawless and beautiful.

It surprises me that this album did not get released before now (2015), but I only hope everybody gets to hear it now that it has escaped the confines of the big dust covered tape box it has lived in for the last 37 years. ~ Jay Leonhart | New York Sept. 21, 2015