This two-fer reissue combines two live albums released by
the Ray Brown Trio in the 1980s, The Red Hot Ray Brown Trio, featuring pianist
Gene Harris and drummer
Mickey Roker along with bassist
Brown, recorded at the Blue Note nightclub in New York in November and December 1985, and Bam Bam Bam, with the trio consisting of
Brown,
Harris, and drummer
Jeff Hamilton, cut in December 1988 at the 2,000-seat Kan-i Hoken Hall in Toyko.
Harris, whom
Brown had lured from obscurity and retirement in Idaho, was something of the bassist's protégé during this period, so it is not surprising that
Brown actually takes a back seat on much of the music here, allowing
Harris to be showcased. To listen to these albums, you would think
Harris, not
Brown, was the leader. The bassist does reserve at least one important solo for himself in each set, giving an expressive arco introduction to the surprising selection "Love Me Tender" (the
Elvis Presley song) on the first disc and returning to the bow on an attractive interpretation of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "If I Loved You" from Carousel on the second.
Hamilton also gets some spotlight time on the second disc, notably with a showy solo during "Rio" and a hand-drumming part in "A Night in Tunisia." But it's
Harris who carries the programs in each concert, and he proves an imaginative soloist, particularly during a version of
Gershwin's "Summertime" in Tokyo that has the enthusiastic audience clapping along. The pianist could ask for nothing more than the platform
Brown has provided for him on these albums. ~ William Ruhlmann