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George Cables: Icons and Influences

By Jack Bowers
February 21, 2014
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When a jazz musician has been around as long as pianist

George Cables

piano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">George Cables, and has seen, heard and performed with so many other world-class musicians, such interactions are bound to leave a lasting impression, and on the trio date Icons and Influences Cables warmly salutes a number of those who have helped frame his musical persona and escorted him along a journey of wonder and discovery that has enabled him to become the superbly talented artist he is today.

As most listeners would assume, several of Cables' influences are fellow pianists, and those remembered here include

Cedar Walton

piano
1934 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Cedar Walton,

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans,

Mulgrew Miller

piano
1955 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Mulgrew Miller,

Dave Brubeck

piano
1920 - 2012

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Brubeck and

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington. While Nat Cole, acknowledged with "The Very Thought of You," was also a pianist, Cables says he was inspired more by Cole's vocal talents, along with those of

Tony Bennett

vocals
1926 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Tony Bennett, on Ray Noble's venerable standard. "Nature Boy," he writes, was prompted not by Cole but by tenor saxophonist

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's instrumental version. Other tenors represented are

Benny Golson

saxophone, tenor
1929 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Benny Golson ("Blue Heart") and

Joe Henderson

saxophone
1937 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Henderson ("Isotope") as well as vibraphonist

Bobby Hutcherson

vibraphone
1941 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobby Hutcherson ("Little B's Poem"). Cables plumbs his own early years with "Happiness," the "first tune [he] wrote" while in his early 20s, and Trinidadian Lord Kitchener's "Mo' Pan," one of the many calypso tunes Cables played or heard while growing up in Brooklyn and Queens, NY.

Whatever the source, the salient point is that every one of these tunes shines like a polished gem in Cables' masterful hands. Tempos are flawless, interpretations admirable, ad-libs smooth and persuasive, the framework lucid and sunny yet emphatic when need be, as on "Isotope" or "Mo' Pan." As for the comfort zone, it is spacious, thanks to the unwavering resilience of bassist

Dezron Douglas

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Dezron Douglas and drummer

Victor Lewis

drums
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">Victor Lewis whose cozy shelter is always close at hand. In every instance, Cables lays bare the unique essence of his role models, and nowhere is this more apparent than on Brubeck's "The Duke," Evans' "Very Early" or his own compositions, "Cedar Walton" and "Mulgrew Miller."

Dedications aside, this is a splendid trio session led by one of the jazz world's more proficient and accessible contemporary pianists. Full credit to Cables, Douglas and Lewis for a job well done.

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Track Listing

Cedar Walton; Farewell Mulgrew; Happiness; The Duke; Come Sunday; Little B��s Poem; Nature Boy; Very Early; Isotope; The Very Thought of You; Mo�� Pan; Blue Heart.

Personnel

George Cables

piano

George Cables: piano; Dezron Douglas: bass; Victor Lewis: drums.

Album information

Title: Icons and Influences | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: HighNote Records

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