Warren Vache: Ballads & Other Cautionary Tales

Warren Vache: cornet
Tardo Hammer: piano (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9)
Richard Wyands: piano (tracks 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12)
Neal Miner: bass
Leroy Williams: drums
John Allred: trombone (track 2)
Houston Person: tenor sax (tracks 4, 7, 11)

Ballad playing may be the most difficult jazz style to master and the one that requires the most maturity and life experience. Even the most talented younger players are often stymied when confronted with the challenges of preserving a melody while stamping it with their own imprimatur. Warren Vache is one of jazz's finest balladeers. Although he has always been one of the most consistently inspired jazz performers, in recent years his playing seems to reflect an even deeper emotional commitment which, combined with his omnipresent technique, has led him to new artistic heights as is evident on this superb set.

—From the album notes by Ed Berger, Associate Director, Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies

Selections:

Ballad for Very Tired and Very Sad Lotus Eaters
Solitude
I See Your Face Before Me
Fools Rush In
I Have Dreamed
Autumn Serenade
Everything Happens To Me
I'll Only Miss Her When I Think of Her
I'll Never Be The Same
Stairway To The Stars
I Remember You
Don't You Know I Care