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| M 'n' M Trio |
 Early jazz produced surprisingly few really small groups. Yes, there were string bands playing on the galleries of New Orleans homes, and Jelly Roll Morton did his famous trio recordings in the ''20s. But these were exceptions. And no one - absolutely no one - conceived the unlikely possibility of a trio consisting of clarinet, high tenor banjo, and profundo CC tuba. Like the bumblebee, this arrangement shouldn''t fly. Yet, the M ''N'' M Trio makes it do so, gloriously. So unlikely is this combination that a word about its origins is in order. The key figure is definitely Jimmy Mazzy, the virtuoso banjo player from Holliston, Massachusetts. Known to thousands for his long run with the Paramount Jazz Band of Boston and for his inexhaustible mine of rare lyrics, this self-effacing artist carries on the great banjo tradition of Fred van Eps and Ernest Jones, except on the tenor banjo rather than the older five string classic instrument. As a professional piano technician he is accustomed to precision, which shows in all he does. A show-stopper by himself, Mazzy soars still higher and gains yet more freedom for himself when someone is playing a bass line beneath him. Enter Eli Newberger, as unusual a tuba player as Mazzy is banjoist. Tubas came late to classic jazz and their role was limited to repetitious oompahs. Not Eli. Grounded in piano playing and be-bop, Eli conceived a new, more complex role for the tuba. Its hallmarks: string bass-like lines, the highlighting of unusual chords, and an aggressive playfulness that is akin to an elephant performing on the balance beam. Enter "Big Joe" Muranyi, the finest jazz clarinetist of his generation. Long a fixture of the New York scene, Muranyi''s musical roots trace back through Martin''s Ferry, West Virginia, to his parents'' native Hungary, point zero of one of Europe''s most lyrical traditions in music and most intricate schools of reed playing. Best known for his years with Louis Armstrong''s All-Stars, Muranyi honed his style in smaller groups on the minuscule bandstand at Nick''s in the Village - the perfect preparation for the Mazzy-Newberger team. Taken together, this heady mix of eclecticism, virtuosity, and lyricism imparts to the M ''N'' M Trio a quality that is exciting, exceedingly pleasant and wonderfully fresh. No wonder the French critic exploded with "Bravo les MNM! Pourquoi pas les ''MMM'' (Master-Master-Master)?" Well spoken! - S. Frederick Starr |
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