These
Ray Bryant albums were originally released on Epic and Columbia Records in 1956 and 1962, respectively.
Ray Bryant Trio and
Dancing the Big Twist are enjoyable, but contain two very different approaches to jazz.
Ray Bryant Trio features a mellow combination of standards, including "Cry Me a River" and "The Breeze and I," along with modern jazz compositions by
Thelonious Monk and
Dizzy Gillespie. On the other hand,
Dancing the Big Twist is basically an album of novelty tunes with a twist theme, including "Twist City," "Twistin' on a Cat's Paw," and "Do That Twist." This session will appeal to those who favor
Bryant's dance hit of the era, "Madison Time."
–
Al Campbell, Rovi