Two Bebop Pianists

Al Haig and Gene DiNovi came out of their teens into the excitement of bebop as the music was discovering itself in the early 1940s. They played piano with some of the most important musicians of the era, had periods of relative obscurity, then re-emerged — Haig briefly. DiNovi is still enjoying a long second run and showing no signs of slowing.

Al Haig
Haig’s first recording session, when he was twenty-one, was with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Curly Russell and Sid Catlett on the Guild session that produced “Salt Peanuts,” “Shaw ‘Nuff,” “Hot House” and the classic “Lover Man” with Sarah Vaughan’s vocal (all included in this collection). He went on to work extensively with Parker, Gillespie, Miles Davis and Stan Getz, recording with them and with Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Wardell Gray, Don Lanphere, Chet Baker and his own trio. He was one of the most inventive and influential bop pianists, generally considered second only to Bud Powell.
Blue Manhattan was Haig’s penultimate album. Issued as a vinyl disc by Interplay, the LP became a collector’s item and has finally appeared as a CD on the Japanese label M&I. The CD booklet incorrectly identifies the recording date as January 4, 1985. In fact, it was January, 1980, just short of two years before Haig’s death at fifty-eight. With basist Reggie Johnson and drummer Frank Gant, Haig retained the fluency, harmonic nuance, swing, humor and much of the fire of his youth. With an ear to new developments, he tackled John Coltrane’s “Impressions” and Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints,” as well as fresh material of his own.

Gene DiNovi
DiNovi, four years younger than Haig, began working with Henry Jerome when he was fourteen. He went on to play with swing era bands like Benny Goodman’s, then with bop pioneers Boyd Raeburn and Chubby Jackson. He recorded with Brew Moore and Lester Young and played with Chuck Wayne, Stan Hasselgard, Buddy DeFranco and other instrumentalists. He was a favorite accompanist of Peggy Lee, Anita O’Day, Lena Horne and Tony Bennett. Through the years, even while immersed in writing film scores, he kept playing.
All Through The Night is the most recent of a series of CDs DiNovi has recorded for Marshmallow records while making frequent tours of Japan and establishing himself as one of the favorite pianists of Japanese jazz fans. DiNovi’s fleetness, resolutely two-handed style and light, firm touch incorporate elements of Powell and another of his heroes, Hank Jones, for whom he names a piece called “The Dean.” The CD incudes bracing versions of Duke Jordan’s “Jordu” and the Cole Porter title tune. DiNovi has fine support from the Canadian bassist Neil Swainson and a drummer new to me, Kazuaki Yokoyama. DiNovi has made his home in Toronto for several years.