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Reviewed: Phil Haynes’ Day Dream – Duke & Strays Live

Phil Haynes' Daydream: Duke & Strays Live (Corner Store Jazz)

Phil Haynes’ Day Dream: Duke & Strays Live (Corner Store Jazz)

The relationship, partnership and friendship of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn has been well documented. Meeting in 1938 they formed an instant bond that endured until Strayhorn’s death in 1967 (Ellington died in 1974) – nearly 30 years that produced some of the most enduring works in the world of jazz and popular song.

The two were a tad over a generation apart and that gap is reflected in the three people who comprise Daydream – pianist Steve Rudolph, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Phil Haynes. They have just released what is only their third album in several years of playing together. Duke & Strays Live is exactly what it says on the tin: 10 pieces – actually 12, given there are segues – all composed by Ellington and/or Strayhorn, and spread over two CDs.

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As noted, there is a full generation between the three musicians, with Rudolph, the senior member, boasting a career spanning half a century, beginning as part of the touring Tommy Dorsey orchestra and epitomising the more traditional sound. The two junior members got together in the 1980s, have played together ever since and are representative of a more modernist approach – so that the album is, in fact, a blending of the old and new, and, in my opinion, offers the best of both schools. It was recorded live 10 September 2023, in the Natalie Davis-Rooke Recital Hall, located on the campus of Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, where Haynes is a well-established member of the faculty.

Ellington composed African Flower, the opening selection, for the Negro Arts Festival in Dakar, and recorded it for his Money Jungle album in 1962. It is perhaps best described as stately and runs for nine minutes plus. The trio kind of sidle up to it, meandering for a good four minutes. Haynes kicks things off, contriving to make a metallic scraping sound, Gress weighs in with a pulsing beat and finally Rudolph’s Bill Evans sound-alike piano joins in and it is a full four minutes before they begin to explore the richness of Ellington’s original. It’s not unlike tossing diverse ingredients – say, flour, egg yolk, milk – into a bowl, and stirring gently until a recognisable batter emerges. This approach typifies the album, which also features the more well-known titles Lush Life, Sophisticated Lady, Perdido, Take The ‘A’ Train, and Rockin’ In Rhythm.

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If you know anything about me, you’ll know that, on paper, this is light years from my comfort zone, and yet I was completely beguiled by three highly talented performers strutting their considerable stuff. Highly recommended.

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