Hank Jones - Hanky Panky (1975 Japanese East Wind Vinyl LP)

Hank Jones - Hanky Panky | Vinyl LP - 1975 Japanese East Wind (EW-8021, JVC mastering)

Hank Jones was jazz's great gentleman pianist, the eldest of the three Jones brothers and a musician whose taste and touch made him the first call for everyone from Charlie Parker to Ella Fitzgerald across sixty years. Hanky Panky catches him in a relaxed trio setting in the summer of 1975, with two of the finest sidemen in the business, Ron Carter on bass and Grady Tate on drums. It was made in New York for East Wind, one of the Japanese labels that recorded American players directly for the discerning home market, and the care shows in every bar. Jones plays with his usual understated authority, never a wasted note, swinging hard without ever raising his voice. The programme is a smart mix: Gary McFarland's title tune, a lovely reading of Claus Ogerman's "Favors", the Rodgers and Hammerstein standard "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning" taken at a gentle lope, and Jones's own "Minor Contention". It is grown-up music, the sound of three masters enjoying each other's company.

This trio was a warm-up for something bigger. Within a year Jones and Carter would team with Tony Williams to form the Great Jazz Trio, one of the most celebrated piano trios of the era, also for East Wind, and Hanky Panky is a graceful first look at that partnership. The record is also a fine example of what made the Japanese jazz labels of the seventies so prized: real studio budgets, careful mastering, and serious attention to presentation.

This copy is the 1975 Japanese original on East Wind, catalogue number EW-8021.