Tom Hallett, Pulse Of The Twin Cities:
"A Hot Ticket. A true hidden local treasure, jazz pianist Larry McDonough always delivers a great evening's entertainment. Whether he's running through inspired sets of covers (he could probably play you anything from pre-WWII ragtime to "Feelin' Groovy") or delivering his own bright, charming originals, Larry's a wonder to watch and an absolute joy to hear."
Pulse Of The Twin Cities:
"Enjoy a leisurely Sunday brunch with some great jazz music by Take 3, featuring Larry McDonough on piano, Bill Bergmann on guitar, and Jeff King on sax. The trio will be performing McDonough's Off Beat: Jazz Classics in New Meters - arrangements of classics into different time signatures, as well as selections from McDonough's CD, Small Steps."
T. Alexander, Pulse Of The Twin Cities:
"McDonough has style. Small Steps is all piano solos in which he interprets the likes of Chick Corea, Eric Clapton, The Beatles, and Miles Davis. McDonough may be covering these greats, but he has a flair that is all his own. He also exhibits echoes of McCoy Tyner ala My Favorite Things when Tyner was working with John Coltrane. Other times he has flashes of Ian Underwood when he was playing with Frank Zappa in the late '60's. On Layla', the Clapton chestnut, McDonough dismantles the tune and gently sets the chunks spinning like plates on a stick. It is obviously that familiar tune, but it has golden glass threads of flats and sharps, minor sevenths all around it. Along with this set is a tune from Kind Of Blue called All Blues'. On that album Davis rehearsed his quintet using some complicated numbers with tricky turnarounds only to scrap them for sparse, simple sketches to challenge his players to improvise on the day they were to record. McDonough achieves the feel that Bill Evans, Davis's piano player at the time, had set down. McDonough is a very strong player.
Completely on the other side of McDonough's abstract flights is Chris Silver's Over Time. This offering is almost a complete polar opposite of Small Steps. Where McDonough plays solo, Silver is joined by thirteen other players. Where McDonough is spacy and loose, Silver's record is a well-ordered bluegrass jamboree. Now bluegrass has a lot in common with jazz. Both of these style players must be precise and loose simultaneously. They both have a history and both are American. Silver's got the goods. He has a strong voice and the fifteen tunes on this records reflect his love for the form. Some of the recordings go back ten years, but that's all right cause this record is timeless.
So, why the jazz guy and the bluegrass guy in the same review? Glad you asked! These guys have it in their heads to meld these forms together. They are taunting this amalgam as "fazz" (the alternative being "jolk," right? That won't fly). The idea of jazz and bluegrass is not that odd, really. Ask a Dead Fan. However, judging by the level of craftsmanship on each of their respective albums, it should prove to be a very interesting show."
Pulse of the Twin Cities:
"A hot ticket."
