Roger Kellaway: The Many Open Minds of Roger Kellaway

Roger Kellaway

The archive of rare/lost/archival jazz recordings is staggering. Here’s a gig Roger Kellaway recorded just under a decade ago – and left it. It’s a stunner. He’s at the keys working his magic – with shit-hot bassist Dan Lutz and killer guitarist Bruce Forman completing the drummer-less piano trio. All three are just in fine form here – the interplay is never less than dazzling. This is a set of well known standards and jump straight to second track, a 10-minute workout across Have You Met Miss Jones, to hear Lutz, Forman and Kellaway all soloing, all ‘talking’ to one another – without ever talking across each other.

So finally this was released – late, late last year in time to honour Kellaway’s 80^th birthday.

The arranger, composer, producer and player is still issuing new works too of course – I loved the third volume of “New Standards” which was released a couple of years back (featuring another crack trio). But to hear this now – recorded when he was 70 – is to absolutely hear a top-of-the-game run across so many great tunes. He instantly makes any piece his own, but at the same time you’re not concerned with his personality dominating the playing in any way, but he keeps finding new ways in – as here on his rendition of Take Five. It helps to hear it removed from its drumming I guess, that marked 5/4 pulse is such a defining characteristic of the Brubeck recording of the Paul Desmond song. But here Kellaway takes it for a stroll – his fingers dancing in a very Oscar Peterson way.

The same is true of the nearly quarter-hour version of Ellington’s Take The ‘A’ Train presented here. From gentle balladry to integrations of stride and boogie stylings, a bit of bop from Forman’s guitar (nice shades of Charlie Christian) and then to Night and Day and Caravan to finish. This is just a clinic. A must have. A must hear. Dynamite performances. And a whole new way of hearing old classics that is all at once respectful and innovative. It’s those new spaces that Kellaway carves out where you hear the joyous runs of a man who simply loves to play the piano. And he’s so well served by his backing musicians here. They know when to splash colours from their palettes and when to just sit back and roll out the background textures.
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