1. The
Best Things In Life Are Free
2. The Poacher
3. A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes
4. Wee Dram Blues
5. This Heart Of Mine
6. Opus 1
7. So Many Stars
8. The Impossible Dream
9. London By Night
10. Guys And Dolls
11. Count Boozy
12. God Only Knows
13. Cottontail
14. A Tribute To Someone
61 minutes
2. The Poacher
3. A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes
4. Wee Dram Blues
5. This Heart Of Mine
6. Opus 1
7. So Many Stars
8. The Impossible Dream
9. London By Night
10. Guys And Dolls
11. Count Boozy
12. God Only Knows
13. Cottontail
14. A Tribute To Someone
61 minutes
James Pearson - piano
Jeremy Brown - bass
Matt Skelton - drums
Some
reviews of The Best Things In Life:
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James Pearson is currently the house pianist and
musical director at the world-renowned Ronnie
Scott's Jazz Club, London. This album is his debut
CD, and utilises his sparkling imagination and
technical mastery to it's full.
The album is an eclectic mix of familiar standards and original compositions performed with great vitality and character.
The album is an eclectic mix of familiar standards and original compositions performed with great vitality and character.
John Dankworth
John
Dankworth on James Pearson:
"Young multi-talented musicians are not exactly a rarity today, and it takes an exceptionally gifted artiste to stand out and be noticed. James Pearson is exactly that; his masterful playing and his imaginative work as a composer and arranger combine to make him head and shoulders above most of his contemporaries. I believe he shows signs of true greatness in the making."
"Young multi-talented musicians are not exactly a rarity today, and it takes an exceptionally gifted artiste to stand out and be noticed. James Pearson is exactly that; his masterful playing and his imaginative work as a composer and arranger combine to make him head and shoulders above most of his contemporaries. I believe he shows signs of true greatness in the making."
The Observer
Review by Dave
Gelly, The Observer 28/11/2004
This is the kind of jazz piano album anyone can enjoy. The up tempo numbers swing joyously, the ballads are full of nice, crunchy harmonies that bring out the melody to perfection. There's a version of the old Disney tune 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes' guaranteed to bring a lump to your throat. Other musicians, especially singers, queue up for James Pearson's services, which is probably why he has reached the age of 34 before releasing a CD under his own name. Bassist Jeremy Brown and drummer Matthew Skelton complete the trio. I can't think of a better release with which to launch this new label.
This is the kind of jazz piano album anyone can enjoy. The up tempo numbers swing joyously, the ballads are full of nice, crunchy harmonies that bring out the melody to perfection. There's a version of the old Disney tune 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes' guaranteed to bring a lump to your throat. Other musicians, especially singers, queue up for James Pearson's services, which is probably why he has reached the age of 34 before releasing a CD under his own name. Bassist Jeremy Brown and drummer Matthew Skelton complete the trio. I can't think of a better release with which to launch this new label.
Jazzwise Magazine
Review by Peter
Quinn in Jazzwise, December 2004:
This disc announces the arrival of a new jazz label (future releases include tenor sax player Robert Fowler and Jim Mullen's group The Organ Trio) and the debut recording of the James Pearson Trio. The first thing to say about the disc is that it's a 14-track sugar-rush of auditory pleasure. And the second: what took you guys so long? Having played together as a trio since meeting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1994, at this rate we can expect the difficult second album sometime around 2014. Led by the preposterously talented James Pearson, the opening title track, possessing just about the sunniest disposition imaginable, crashes into the listener's consciousness like a tsunami. Taken from the 1950 Disney movie Cinderella, the glacially paced 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes' radiates an unfathomable melancholy and is far and away the loveliest thing on the album. The rollicking big band tune associated with The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, 'Opus 1', shows off the not inconsiderable talents of drummer Matt Skelton, as do magnificent interpretaitions of 'Guys And Dolls' and the insanely paced 'Cotton Tail'. Bassist Jeremy Brown keeps great time and contributes a number of telling solos, none more so than on the concluding 'A Tribute To Someone'. Pearson chips in with three originals of his own, the best of which, 'Wee Dram Blues', features the unlikely juxtaposition of a pounding open fifth drone with fast swing. An inspired, and inspiring, debut.
This disc announces the arrival of a new jazz label (future releases include tenor sax player Robert Fowler and Jim Mullen's group The Organ Trio) and the debut recording of the James Pearson Trio. The first thing to say about the disc is that it's a 14-track sugar-rush of auditory pleasure. And the second: what took you guys so long? Having played together as a trio since meeting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1994, at this rate we can expect the difficult second album sometime around 2014. Led by the preposterously talented James Pearson, the opening title track, possessing just about the sunniest disposition imaginable, crashes into the listener's consciousness like a tsunami. Taken from the 1950 Disney movie Cinderella, the glacially paced 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes' radiates an unfathomable melancholy and is far and away the loveliest thing on the album. The rollicking big band tune associated with The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, 'Opus 1', shows off the not inconsiderable talents of drummer Matt Skelton, as do magnificent interpretaitions of 'Guys And Dolls' and the insanely paced 'Cotton Tail'. Bassist Jeremy Brown keeps great time and contributes a number of telling solos, none more so than on the concluding 'A Tribute To Someone'. Pearson chips in with three originals of his own, the best of which, 'Wee Dram Blues', features the unlikely juxtaposition of a pounding open fifth drone with fast swing. An inspired, and inspiring, debut.
The Sunday Times
Review by Clive
Davis, The Sunday Times, 9th January 2005
James Pearson, who performs Rhapsody In Blue in the QEH's Gershwin tribute tonight, has turned up behind some excellent singers lately, from Jacqui Dankworth to diva-turned-jazz singer Maria Ewing. His debut for the promising new label Diving Duck shows just how much the pianist has to offer as a front-line soloist. Like the New Yorker Bill Charlap, Pearson is an ultra-assured technician who is not afraid of dabbling with the more romantic end of the swing-to-bop repertoire: London By Night is not the kind of melody that normally makes it onto a thirty-something's playlist . Basie gets a hat-tip on the suitably relaxed Count Boozy. Pearson also turns up on the imprint's other buoyant offering, Tight Lines, by the Bristol-born saxophonist Robert Fowler
James Pearson, who performs Rhapsody In Blue in the QEH's Gershwin tribute tonight, has turned up behind some excellent singers lately, from Jacqui Dankworth to diva-turned-jazz singer Maria Ewing. His debut for the promising new label Diving Duck shows just how much the pianist has to offer as a front-line soloist. Like the New Yorker Bill Charlap, Pearson is an ultra-assured technician who is not afraid of dabbling with the more romantic end of the swing-to-bop repertoire: London By Night is not the kind of melody that normally makes it onto a thirty-something's playlist . Basie gets a hat-tip on the suitably relaxed Count Boozy. Pearson also turns up on the imprint's other buoyant offering, Tight Lines, by the Bristol-born saxophonist Robert Fowler