LEONIE COHEN TRIO – SIDESHOW PONY

Hugh Fraser’s double bass and Simon Barker’s drums lay the platform for Leonie Cohen’s piano to dance over the top of it all – this is jazz man, straight up, undiluted. It’s clean and crisp. No acid or funk fusion., it’s old school and it’s got a timeless feel and sound to it. This isn’t the big band, 12-plus musos taking turns soloing, trying to ‘one up’ one another.This is stripped down to the bare bones in a three piece. There are seven Leonie Cohen originals on offer here, and a cover of a piece from Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington. To the untrained ear the covers  are undetectable. Leonie Cohen is one of Australia’s leading jazz pianists and listening to this album is a real delight. If everyone was to listen to this CD in their cars the problem of road rage would be cured overnight. If this is your kind of thing you’ll love it. If you’re open minded about music you’ll enjoy it. If your CD collection is full of Norwegian death metal or you enjoy what’s served up on commercial FM pop stations you might think you wouldn’t be interested. but you’d be wrong.

***1/2