[.ca] Just In Time Live

Sophisticated Swing!:
Montrealer Oliver Jones is still something of a secret to jazz fans who love piano/bass/drums playing. His many great albums for Justin Time are always rewarding, always beautifully recorded, always just the tonic for smooth quiet evenings (by the fire in winter or on the porch enjoying a late summer night's breeze). Obviously influenced by another exceptional Montrealer (Oscar Peterson) and by the beauty and simplicity of Bill Evans, Jones has always played with a lyrical sense of space and a perfectionist's devotion to melody and structure. Just In Time is a two-disc retrospective of his best work for this prime indie jazz label and the logical starting points for those into simply recorded yet immensely rewarding jazz. Recommended and essential.

Oliver Jones is nothing short of brilliant:
Wow! Oliver Jones is fabulous. Why he is not more well known, I do not know. He is a jazz piano master, like fellow Montrealler Oscar Peterson. This double album was recorded live at Toronto's famed Montreal Bistro in 1997 and features Dave Young on bass and Norman Marshall Villeneuve on drums. Most of the songs here are standards, and all played with technical brilliance. Unfortunately he has now retired from performing, but at least we have this and other albums to enjoy. And this album is full of many brilliant suprises. Just listen to his rendition of "Waltzin' Matilda". I have never heard it played in a jazz way before, and it is amazing. And Oliver's own composition "Something for Chuck" should become a standard. It's as good as any that I have heard. If you are a jazz fan, and enjoy Oscar Peterson, you will for sure love Oliver Jones.

• Falling in Love With Love
• Lover Man
• Just in Time
• Up Jumped Spring
• Little Girl Blue
• Well, You Needn't
• Something for Chuck
• Someone to Watch over Me
• Place St. Henri
• I Love You
• Odalisque
• On Green Dolphin Street
• Willow Weep for Me
• Waltzing Matilda
• Quigea
• Mean to Me
• Oleo
• Things We Did Last Summer
• Gershwin Medley: Rhapsody in Blue/I Love You Porgy/Bess You Is My ...