So, we have Clifford Brown’s "Joy Spring," certainly an optimistic reaction to the end of winter, but played in one of their now-collectible duo recordings by Larry Coryell and Emily Remler from their Together album. A generation old now, that performance recalls their mutual support, now largely overlooked since Remler’s death in 1990 at the age of 32. Just as poignant is the now-deceased Susannah McCorkle’s also appropriately named "The Waters of March," another in a series of recordings demonstrating her fondness for Brazilian music, including singing some of the songs in their native Portuguese.
Mixed in with the relatively recent recordings like Karrin Allyson’s version of "Too Young To Go Steady" are an assortment of truly classic recordings, such as Miles Davis’ famous version of "I’ll Remember April" evidently from his Blue Haze album of 1954 with Dave Schildkraut, to Bill Evans’ unaccompanied performance of "April In Paris" from the Riverside The Solo Sessions, Vol. 1. Fortunately, Concord acquired the rights to Tony Bennett’s recordings on his own label, Improv Records, after leaving Columbia, and so we have his version of "Mountain Greenery" with Ruby Braff and George Barnes from Tony Bennett Sings: More Great Rodgers & Hart. The CD itself starts with Red Garland’s recording of "Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year" from his Prestige All Kinds Of Weather album of 1958 with Paul Chambers and Art Taylor.
So, while the jazz moods of spring may be upon us, those of the Sounds Of Spring decidedly borrow from some memorable recordings from the 1950’s and 1960’s, leveraging the huge Fantasy catalog, rather than weighting it toward the more recent Concord albums. The result offers satisfaction for the jazz purists, as well as bringing into jazz some of the people who are just learning about the music through mood albums such as this one.
