Focusing on the latter part of his career, the double-disc anthology
Bassics: Best of Ray Brown Trio 1977-2000 collects a nice cross-section of the recordings bassist
Ray Brown made with his various trio configurations for the Concord and Telarc labels. Included is work the iconic musician made with such pianists as
Cedar Walton,
Gene Harris and
Monty Alexander, as well
Benny Green and
Geoff Keezer. These are elegant, sophisticated mainstream jazz recordings that are the epitome of swinging modern jazz. While listeners looking for a more representative view of
Brown's long career should probably check out his influential early recordings,
Bassics offers a perfect overview of the still superb
Brown in the autumn of his life.
–
Matt Collar, Rovi