After Hours 1966 - Norm Amadio Trio + Tommy Ambrose
After Hours 1966
Norm Amadio Trio + Tommy Ambrose
Panda Digital PDCD0291 (pandadigital.com)
A stalwart of the Toronto jazz and live music community, the late Norm Amadio is captured here on After Hours 1966 in the kind of fine form that hundreds of musicians locally and such visiting American players as Stan Getz and Coleman Hawkins (among many others) experienced when working with Amadio on the bandstands and jam sessions of any number of Toronto clubs over the numerous decades of his storied career. Capturing some of the long ornamented piano lines and furious comping that made him a bebop soloist and accompanist of choice for so many, Amadio is joined on this recording by bassist Bob Price and drummer Stan Perry, occasionally in support of vocalist (and longtime Amadio collaborator) Tommy Ambrose.
The compositions, all of which were written by Andrew Meltzer (including one with lyrics by journalist and Order of Canada Member George Jonas), all move harmonically and melodically like standards, that is to say the music of the gilded fraternity of tunesmiths who wrote for the Broadway stage, that jazz musicians love to perform and extemporize upon. Accordingly, everyone here plays beautifully and in a relaxed manner that imbues a sense of intimacy and familiarly. For Melzer, this release is a dream that dates back to when he was a 60-year-old songwriter in conversation with Amadio about doing this recording on the stage of Toronto’s The Cellar club. For the rest of us, this album is a welcome addition to our collection of great Toronto jazz from yesteryear and a testament to Amadio’s amazing musicianship.
