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Resonance Records: The Art of the Sampler

By Geno Thackara
August 13, 2019
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Resonance Records is a refreshing success story in the modern jazz world, still happily defying the norms of the streaming age with unflagging class and style. Even familiar listeners can lose sight of what a catalogue of material they've gathered, which is where 2019's handful of budget samplers come in. Co-president Zev Feldman declares that he's "always looking for ways to introduce the world to Resonance's records—both historical issues and also our tremendous current artists." With a snazzy set of covers reminiscent of classic New Yorker drawings or Jeeves and Wooster TV titles (courtesy of artist/publisher Takao Fujioka), these offer a most inviting way to dip a figurative toe into their broadening pool.

Bill Evans
Smile with Your Heart: The Best of Bill Evans on Resonance

Four top-notch

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans archival releases stand among the label's flagship offerings, and though each one is solid all the way through on its own, this sequence combines some of each into a beautifully mixed standalone set. The late-career material in question spans 1964-1974: some studio and mostly live, some sedate and others sprightly, briskly swinging or gorgeously contemplative, all with the one-of-a-kind Evans romantic touch. Smile with Your Heart is a phrase that might have given the sometimes-troubled pianist some mixed feelings himself, but for listeners the title couldn't be more apt.

Various Artists
Jazz Piano Panorama: The Best of Piano Jazz on Resonance

This one skips through a whole course of stride, swing and bop, from figures old and new. A blistering "There Is No Greater Love" from the late

Gene Harris

piano
1933 - 2000

" data-original-title="" title="">Gene Harris makes an immediate centerpiece highlight, though the shorter and subtler offerings can all serve as tempting appetizers for their respective sets. Evans and

Tommy Flanagan

piano
1930 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Tommy Flanagan provide a couple thoughtful ballads,

Marian Petrescu

piano
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Marian Petrescu and

John Beasley

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">John Beasley bring the swing, and it's a generally brisk and cooking affair all the way through.

Wes Montgomery
Wes's Best: The Best of Wes Montgomery on Resonance

Most of Resonance's

Wes Montgomery

guitar
1923 - 1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Wes Montgomery material comes from his developing phase, which makes it something of a mishmosh in some ways. It couldn't have been easy to make a couple stray odds-and-ends from the In the Beginning early-years collection slot alongside some blues and samba from the live Smokin' in Seattle, which shows the guitarist's voice in full bloom years later. Those well-mastered recordings also make a sonic contrast with the rougher tape quality of One Night in Indy, while the instrumental wanderings are also interrupted in the middle with a Debbie Andrews vocal on "Down to Big Mary's." Rough around the edges or not, Montgomery's spectrum is on full display—the slick-flowing chords, the flowing lines and innate sense of fun. Overall cohesion for such a disc was probably impossible, but Wes's Best succeeds anyway by embracing the kitchen-sink jumble of its subject's colorful career instead.

Various Artists
Sing a Song of Jazz: The Best of Vocal Jazz on Resonance

More so than the various-artists piano compilation, Sing a Song of Jazz showcases Resonance's stable of new and current recordings to delightful effect. The sequencing takes special care to juxtapose past and present, such as sandwiching a smoky

Polly Gibbons

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Polly Gibbons performance in between some crazy

Sarah Vaughan

vocals
1924 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Sarah Vaughan scatting and a smoothly crooned Latin piece from

Joao Gilberto

vocals
1931 - 2019

" data-original-title="" title="">Joao Gilberto and

Stan Getz

saxophone, tenor
1927 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Stan Getz. It's all about variety here: sedate and classy from

Kathy Kosins

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Kathy Kosins, sassy like

Greta Matassa

vocals
b.1962

" data-original-title="" title="">Greta Matassa or soulful as

Aubrey Logan

trombone
b.1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Aubrey Logan, all vastly different sides of vocal jazz feel like the best of partners after a good whirl or two across the lounge floor.

It's best to just disregard that phase "Best Of" here. It's a common enough title for such collections and the tracks are indeed all top-shelf, but no less so than the full sets from which they come. Hopefully they'll only help Resonance bring more well-deserved newcomers to their expanding table.

Tracks and Personnel

Smile with Your Heart: The Best of Bill Evans on Resonance

Tracks: Someday My Prince Will Come; Yesterdays (version 1); Mother of Earl; You're Gonna Hear from Me; Baubles, Bangles and Beads (trio); My Funny Valentine; Nardis; Very Early; Turn Out the Stars; Polka Dots and Moonbeams; Re: Person I Knew; Waltz for Debby.

Personnel: Bill Evans: piano; Eddie Gomez: bass; Marty Morell: drums (1-3, 10-12); Jack DeJohnette: drums (4-9).

Jazz Piano Panorama: The Best of Piano Jazz on Resonance

Tracks: Ghanian Village; You Never Tell Me Anything!; Come Rain or Come Shine; Cakewalk; Something to Live For; Girl Talk; Positootly!; There is No Greater Love; Send One Your Love; Jenny's Waltz; Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams; A Little Jazz Exercise.

Personnel: Dado Moroni; Donald Vega; Bill Evans; Marian Petrescu; Tommy Flanagan; The Three Sounds; John Beasley; Gene Harris; Jaki Byard; Mike Garson; Tamir Hendelman.

Wes's Best: The Best of Wes Montgomery on Resonance

Tracks: Jingles; Mr. Walker; West Coast Blues; Four on Six; Once I Loved (O Amor em Paz); Wes' Tune; Li'l Darling; Going Down to Big Mary's; Diablo's Dance; Nica's Dream; Give Me the Simple Life; 'Round Midnight.

Personnel: Wes Montgomery: guitar; Eddie Higgins: piano; Wynton Kelly: piano; Buddy Montgomery: piano; Ron McClure: bass; Jimmy Cobb: drums; Walter Perkins: drums.

Sing a Song of Jazz: The Best of Vocal Jazz on Resonance

Tracks: The Man I Love; Ability to Swing; ? Preciso Perdoar; Just for a Thrill; Slow Hot Wind; Daydreaming; (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman; Chan's Song; I Should Care; November Twilight; So Good; Ligia.

Personnel: Sarah Vaughan; Polly Gibbons; Stan Getz/Jo?o Gilberto; Shirley Horn; Angela Hagenbach; Cathy Rocco; Aubrey Logan; Greta Matassa; Wes Montgomery; Debbie Andrews; Kathy Kosins; Claudio Roditi.

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