Francy Boland - Playing With the Trio (2013)

A fairly rare discographical item, pianist Francy Boland is here captured in a small-group setting featuring Jimmy Woode on bass and the legendary Kenny Clarke on drums. The trio guide us through versions of familiar Clarke-Boland numbers that have been pared back to reveal the absolute musical essentials. This session is a perfectly cut gem; unassuming but wholly flawless, and shining with intelligent musical light.

Review:

Pianist FRANCY BOLAND is best know on these shores as the co-leader with drummer Kenny Clarke of the Clark-Boland Big Band, one of the truly superb big bands in jazz. Playing with the Trio (Schema Records - 148) presents the tracks recorded in 1967 by Boland, Clarke and bassist Jimmy Woode, who was the bassist on the big band at that time. The program includes four originals by Boland, two by Woode, Neal Hefti's "Lonely Girl," "I'm All Smiles" and "Like Someone in Love." These three highly creative musicians are a pleasure to hear outside of the setting of the big band for which they provided the rhythmic underfooting. Boland was an outstanding arranger, and he brings that sensibility to his pianism. Clarke is one of the seminal figures in the history of jazz drumming, and his musicality shines through here. Woode had a long career that included a five-year stint on the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He sparkles on this session. This is a set of music guaranteed to keep you smiling, and finding new pleasures each time that you visit it. --Jersey Jazz

Hmmm, I'm not precisely sure what's going on here, but I'm happy as hell this CD was issued…What he does with time is both subtle and overt, often concurrently, showing an ability to toy with meter at will, well beyond norms of thought…even for jazzbos, but his intonations and nuances dovetail right into all of that, and repeated listens are required to truly appreciate what a wunderkind this guy was. --Mark S. Tucker, FAME Review

Boland's playing throughout is punctuated with bell-like tones expertly placed like Clarke's rimshots. Trio Jazz most fine.
-allaboutjazz.com, June 2014

Pianist-composer Francy Boland, bassist Jimmy Woode, and legendary drummer Kenny Clarke were the nucleus of the Francy Boland Big Band, which was active and hugely influential in Europe throughout the 1960s. But in 1967 Boland went into the studio with just the rhythm section and recorded this very winning trio album, one consisting almost entirely of original compositions (by both him and Woode), all played in a light but energetic style. All three players are brilliant, but there's something particularly special about Clarke's drumming throughout - notice in particular the subtlety of his brushwork on the blues-based "Night Lady." --CD Hotlist, September 2014