Known for his outstanding work as a sideman with
Joe Henderson,
Dexter Gordon, and
Frank Morgan,
George Cables is also a first-rate leader who has primarily recorded for European and Japanese jazz labels. This 1991 session for Steeplechase with two in-demand musicians, bassist
Peter Washington and drummer
Kenny Washington, finds the pianist at the top of his game, with an aggressive approach to "In Walked Bud," a playful treatment of
Bill Evans' "Waltz for Debby," and an intense setting of
Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma" that is beautifully set up by his drummer. The pianist is also a strong composer, offering his delicate ballad "Lullaby" (a favorite of
Frank Morgan, especially on duo dates with
Cables), the buoyant Latin-tinged "Helen's Song," and the gently swaying "Sweet Rita Suite."
Cables is no slouch playing standards, including a spacious, extended take of "Over the Rainbow" and a driving "All the Things You Are," which detours into Afro-Cuban licks with regularity.