Ron Thomas + Paul Klinefelter-"Blues for Zarathustra"... -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 7/4/2009
Last Visited: 9/20/2009
Paul Klinefelter: acoustic bass
CD $9.99
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Following his two previous Trio releases on Art of Life Records, "Music In Three Parts" (AL1010-2) and "Doloroso" (AL1021-2), "Blues for Zarathustra" finds pianist Ron Thomas in a duo setting with acoustic bassist Paul Klinefelter performing six Jazz standards and one original composition.
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Ron and Paul perform the songs "Gentle Rain" (Luiz Bonfa), "Time Remembered" (Bill Evans), "Yardbird Suite" (Charlie Parker), "You Must Believe in Spring" (Legrand, Demy & Bergman), "Young and Foolish" (Horwitt & Hague), "I Thought About You" (Van Heusen & Mercer) and the Ron Thomas composition "Blues for Zarathustra".
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Paul Klinefelter and Ron Thomas have been performing and recording in diverse musical situations since 1980.
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Paul was voted Philadelphia's Best Jazz Bassist in 1982 (WRTI 90.1 F.M.).
He has performed at the San Jose Jazz Festival, the Berks Jazzfest and has been a clinician at the Berklee College of Music.
He is a noted Blues player and has been a member of the Harrisburg Symphony since 1989.
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Paul Klinefelter
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Klinefelter uses the full range of his bass and as such is an integral part of the sound.
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Thomas and Klinefelter make an extremely tight duo, knowing each other so well that their reactions, the push and pull of the two independent voices, sound completely natural.
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Closer listening will uncover the seamless changing of roles as Klinefelter, playing the natural supporting role, will, in the course of things, inject a phrase fragment that is instantly picked up by Thomas.
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Conversely, Klinefelter will just as quickly respond to something Thomas has played.
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Thomas and Klinefelter communicate their deepest feelings, playing for and to each other.
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Says Klinefelter, "Rather than getting bored with a composition, the more familiar with it we become the more we see the deeper possibilities within it."
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This is the magic of Klinefelter and Thomas.
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Pianist Ron Thomas and bassist Paul Klinefelter had worked together for two decades by the time of this 2002 duo session, which shows in the music they produce throughout the date.
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Together with Klinefelter, the duo has the kind of musical E.S.P. that is somewhat rare in jazz, whoever is accompanying the other player always anticipates just where he is going.
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The music is emphatically post-Evans, with Klinefelter playing an active notey role as per the style.
They have been playing these particular tunes since way back, so the notes say.
It shows.
Sometimes, as in "Yardbird Suite", they don't seem to bother with the head, and just dive into the improvisations, getting deeply inside the structure of the tune.
Semi-lush chords, many blocked, an actively flowing line spinning (sometimes in the Bop mode) and some rhythmic displacements characterize Thomas' playing and he is good at it.
"Blues for Zarathustra" finds Thomas and Klinefelter leaving the high point for last.