Roger Kellaway

Roger Kellaway Live At Mezzrow

Cellar Music Group

The renowned pianist, composer, and arranger Roger Kellaway mentions in the liners to his live album Roger Kellaway Live At Mezzrow something that makes the utmost sense but rarely mentioned, and at least here, rarely thought about. The pianist has, for the past twenty years, performed in a trio setting with bass and guitar – inspired by the great trios of Nat King Cole and Oscar Peterson. Yet, he mentions that the format requires everything to be arranged and lots of rehearsals.  If nothing else, that explains why the conventional piano trio of bass and drums lends itself to far more improvisation which is what Kellaway was seeking in this live date, enlisting drummer Dennis Mackrel and bassist Jay Leonhart. Yet, he couldn’t entirely move away from his comfort zone, inviting guitarist Roni Ben-Hur to join on three pieces, two of which, of course, Kellaway arranged. Ben-Hur and Leonhart have long been members of Kellaway’s East Coast trio. Kellaway has resided for the last 30 years in Ojai, CA where rehearsals are not easy to arrange.

This is at least the fifth but the first  of two in 2024 SmallsLIVE Living Masters Series album covered on these pages,(see Jack Walrath Live at Smalls) honoring legacy artists. Kellaway certainly qualifies having logged over six decades at the piano as a leader and sideman. Kellaway’s output as a leader began in 1963 with A Portrait of Roger Kellaway. His arranging and sideman resumes are ridiculous, arranging with such luminaries as Melanie, Liza Minnelli, and Carmen McRae – and serving as a sideman to George Harrison, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, and Kenny Burrell. Kellaway has recorded over 250 albums and composed over 20 film scores (most notably for the 1976 adaptation of ‘A Star is Born’).

 Kellaway and his bandmates dig into the songbooks of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Billy Strayhorn primarily with a couple of others. The performance begins as most Kellaway performances do, with “Try to Remember,” a soothing piece with plenty of spaces and shimmering piano passages that are bitonal – a Bb major with his left hand and the melody in G major with his right.  He gives Miles’ “All Blues” a lengthy treatment that features a brilliant arco bass solo from Leonhart and deep bluesy lines and potent chords from the pianist. He also honors Miles with the circular styled “Blue In Green” (composed by Bill Evans) where the colorful aspects of Kellaway’s pianism are front and center. The chestnut “So What” completes the trio of Miles’ pieces, all of which appeared on the classic Miles Davis album Kind of Blue. Don’t dismiss these or some of the others as too often covered standards: Kellaway arranges them and puts his stamp on them to give them a fresh veneer. As mentioned, his nimble touch, unhurried approach, and ability to produce unique colors set him apart.

The middle of the album features the guitarist Ben-Hur on two pieces written by Ettore Stratta – “Pages of Life” and the up-tempo, extended “Good Morning Bahia,” the latter featuring a riveting guitar-drums dialogue and a most robust bassline through the tricky rhythms by Leonhart. You may notice strains of Ahmad Jamal’s “Poinciana” in the former, as stated by Kellaway in the liners.  The one original is “All My Life,” originally written for piano and violin. It’s a gorgeous piece as foreshadowed by the two sustained chords that open it. Kellaway proceeds in storytelling fashion to deliver masterful dynamics and thus suspense. While Monk’s “Straight No Chaser” is rendered relatively faithfully compared to others, Ellington’s “Take the ‘A’ Train” gets delivered in teasingly slow fashion, inspired by the tempo oft crafted by former bandmate, NYC trumpeter Joe Newman. Kellaway does a fascinating job of deconstructing and building back the theme multiple times  The former benefits with the addition of Ben-Hur, though not explicitly noted in the album credits or liners.

One small quibble that runs through these SmallsLIVE recordings is the absence of audience applause. Perhaps because both Smalls and Mezzrow are beyond intimately tiny, that choice was made but it still feels somewhat incomplete listening to a live performance without that.

Regardless, this performance is enthralling throughout. Kellaway has a gift for melody and arranging like few others.

• Jim Hynes

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