If I Were A Bell – 2023
Emmet Cohen
A swinging version with an all-star quartet
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A hit song from the 1950 musical Guys and Dolls, “If I Were A Bell,” was performed early on by Tex Beneke’s orchestra and Peggy Lee and was first recorded in more jazz-oriented settings by altoist Herb Geller and singers Dinah Washington and Beverly Kenney during 1955-56.
However it was when the Miles Davis Quintet made their recording on Oct. 28, 1956 that it quickly became a jazz standard.
For his version, pianist Emmet Cohen is joined by bassist Buster Williams, drummer Lenny White, and trumpeter Wallace Roney Jr. in 2023.
The medium-up tempo rendition has a fine statement from trumpeter Roney (who has developed his own musical personality apart from that of his late father), a fairly adventurous statement from Cohen before he swings away like Wynton Kelly, a short solo from Williams, and a heated tradeoff with White.
-Scott Yanow
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