Larry Dunlap is an impeccable jazz pianist. Absolutely gorgeous. He has performed and/or recorded with vocalists Flora Purim, Giacomo Gates, Mark Murphy, Joe Williams, Sheila Jordan, his wife Bobbe Norris and many others. He also has worked with instrumentalists such as Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Bud Shank and Ernie Watts among others. And then there is the magnificent album And Then Some, a collection of songs by Earl Zindars. Larry and his trio recorded Heads or Tails, Walkin' By, City Tune, My Love Is an April Song, Three Times Around, Song for Artie and Gurdgieff. The Don Haas Trio recorded the balance. [Photo above of Larry Dunlap and Bobbe Norris]
After I mentioned Larry in a recent post on great fireside albums (the Zindars release), I received an email from him. It turns out Larry is a JazzWax subscriber, much to my delight. In our subsequent email conversation, I asked why oh why there weren't dozens of trio albums in his discography and why many of the small-group albums he recorded aren't in print? Ferociously busy, he replied. He has composed works for chamber orchestra and jazz ensembles of all sizes as well as many songs and jazz sketches. He received a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts and has been commissioned to compose several pieces.
Larry also has done quite a bit of pop work with the Pointer Sisters, Mary Wilson, Country Joe McDonald (who is a huge West Coast jazz fan) as well as the accompaniment of vocalists and the transcriptions of music for publications such as the Sher Music Co. and the Hal Leonard Corp.
Larry mentioned that he had indeed released a bunch of small-group leadership albums. One he's particularly fond of is You and My Guitar (Coit Music), a 2003 re-issue of a 1985 album on which he plays the compositions of Amandio Cabral, a Cape Verdian songwriter he has worked with for more than 30 years. Larry wrote the arrangements for the album and was accompanied by Jeff Carney on bass and Jim ZImmerman on drums.
Larry's touch on this album is absolutely beautiful. As he writes, "When the album came out, several people told me it sounded most like a Brazilian trio than any other North American musician." I'll second that!
Born in 1948, Larry today lives in Pacifica, Calif., a picturesque coastal town near San Francisco.
JazzWax tracks: Larry Dunlap's You and My Guitar is nearly impossible to find. Larry was happy to have me provide his email should you be interested in buying a copy (as long as copies last):
Total cost is $18 within the U.S. ($15 + $3 shipping).
Otherwise, the album is going for $49 here and $60 here.
As for the Earl Zindars tribute album, And Then Some, go here.
JazzWax tracks: From You and My Guitar, here's No Sadness...
And here's Love Let Go...
