Beautific laid-back music to relax by, played by a master., 09 Feb 2002
This is a great CD played by four musicians who obviously enjoy playing together.
Now some detail:
'Old Folks' - starts with a great duo between Brian and Dave Green on bass, very laid-back. Then Dave Cliff enters with his delicate guitar solo complete with 'double-stopping' a la violin virtuoso.
'It's You or No One' - an up-tempo number with Brian almost from the start moving into free flight. Great rythmic support from bass and drums.
'This Can't be Love' - a good swinger from the whole quartet. A beutiful chord sequence from Brian to complete this number.
'That Old Feeling' - excellent walking chord accompaniment from bass and guitar.
My favourite track is last, 'My One and Only Love' - if only for the beautiful guitar main melody from Dave Cliff. The only other version of this song I've heard has a similar guitar lead by Martin Taylor on a Stephan Grappelli album.
If you like quiet, thoughtful melodic jazz from a most English of pianists then this is for you. It will certainly do for me!

Beautific laid-back music to relax by, played by a master., 09 Feb 2002
This is a great CD played by four musicians who obviously enjoy playing together.
Now some detail:
'Old Folks' - starts with a great duo between Brian and Dave Green on bass, very laid-back. Then Dave Cliff enters with his delicate guitar solo complete with 'double-stopping' a la violin virtuoso.
'It's You or No One' - an up-tempo number with Brian almost from the start moving into free flight. Great rythmic support from bass and drums.
'This Can't be Love' - a good swinger from the whole quartet. A beutiful chord sequence from Brian to complete this number.
'That Old Feeling' - excellent walking chord accompaniment from bass and guitar.
My favourite track is last, 'My One and Only Love' - if only for the beautiful guitar main melody from Dave Cliff. The only other version of this song I've heard has a similar guitar lead by Martin Taylor on a Stephan Grappelli album.
If you like quiet, thoughtful melodic jazz from a most English of pianists then this is for you. It will certainly do for me!

Lovely British Jazz, 28 Aug 2007
Anyone who doesn't think the British can play Jazz should listen to this CD. 64 minutes of great mainstream, swinging Jazz. There's nothing technically daring or revolutionary going on here, but in terms of feeling and beauty it's hard to beat. Most of the tracks are from the American songbook slow or mid-tempo but they never become dull or samey.

Tony Coe plays tenor and clarinet with a lovely tone and the other musicians all sparkle: Alan Barnes on alto and other reeds; Brian Lemon piano; Dave Cliff guitar; Dave Green bass; Allan Ganley drums. Recording quality is excellent.

A nine-piece band made up of some of the finest modern- mainstream players anywhere in the world, although they all happen to be British. The leader and principal arranger is Alan Barnes, a phenomenally accomplished musician with the rare quality of being at home in virtually any style. His alto and baritone saxophone playing, not to mention his clarinet, lies at the heart of these 14 pieces. The material ranges all the way from Kid Ory's "Savoy Blues" to Joe Zawinul's "Birdland" and the sheer variety of orchestral effects created with just nine instruments is little short of miraculous. Zephyr Records, which released its first CD in 1996, has created a strong identity for itself by building up what amounts to a repertory company of top players, combining them in different ways and adding artists. The most constant presence of all is pianist Brian Lemon, who appears on every single Zephyr release so far, and whose imaginative, discreet but firm playing sets the prevailing tone. This is Zephyr's biggest and most ambitious undertaking to date and it succeeds brilliantly. --Dave Gelly

Thirteen classic standards and intimate jazz playing of the highest quality make Dreams a CD that offers adventure within tradition. Tony Coe on tenor and Gerard Presencer on flugelhorn may be a generation apart but they combine here almost telepathically with sympathetic backing from Brian Lemon's piano and the bass of Dave Green. Ten of these 13 songs were recorded by Billie Holiday and tempos range only from slow to medium-slow, but the imagination and harmonic sophistication of the two frontliners guarantee that this is no sentimental revivalist exercise. Nevertheless their respect for these songs and the tradition they belong to is evident in the depth of feeling brought to these renditions. In this sort of context Coe's tone and phrasing clearly recall Paul Gonsalves, yet Coe matches the latter's involvement in the music while conveying a strong identity of his own as well. Presencer's clear-toned flugelhorn provides an ideal complement and the fresh routines include unexpected obbligatos and unaccompanied frontline solos and duets. Further solo contributions from Lemon and a few from Green sustain the moods with sensitivity and this is a superlative example of contemporary British jazz. --Graham Colombé

The blending of the three horns of these co-leaders was a masterstroke. The result is a master class in the sophisticated treatment of some neglected standards. Coe is one of the most gifted musical inventors in jazz, Barnes is not far behind and Vach is exactly the kind of player whose game is raised by such company. It all looks too good to be true, but it's not, and the backing by giants in their own right like pianist Brian Lemon, bassist Dave Green, guitarist Dave Cliff and the two drummers Allan Ganley and Clark Tracey extracts the full potential from the session. The choice of material stokes the fires, and it's good to hear such little known wonders as Tadd Dameron's "On A Misty Night--ideal for such company and Benny Golson's "Five Spot After Dark". Alan Barnes plays baritone on a unique version of Coltrane's "Giant Steps", using the convoluted tune at a very slow tempo and making it a thing of beauty rather than a fiendish exercise. Vach has a ball with the more mainstream numbers like "The Jeep Is Jumpin'" and "Don't You Know I Care?". --Steve Voce

Here is proof positive that some of Britain's jazz musicians are at least the equal of their transatlantic colleagues. Trombonist Roy Williams is partnered in the front line by American tenorist Scott Hamilton who, for contractual reasons, is not mentioned on the front of the jewel case and in only small letters on the reverse. Hamilton has spearheaded a mainstream movement for several years while trombonist Williams is arguably one of the very best in the world. Add to them a rhythm section of great strength, flexibility and the ability to swing at any tempo and the result is a sextet of classic proportions. On piano is Brian Lemon, who has played on almost every Zephyr album issued to date. He is backed by Dave Green and Allan Ganley with guitarist Dave Cliff added as soloist and rhythm player. The 11 tunes are tried-and-tested songs such as "Sweet Georgia Brown" (Lemon is heard instructing his men on solo lengths at the outset), "Bye Bye Blues" and "Georgia On My Mind". The group takes fresh approaches to the standards while the lengthy "Blues In The Closet" has outstanding solos all round. --Steve Voce