Sunshower (Larry Willis album)

2001 studio album by Larry Willis

Sunshower

Studio album by

Larry Willis

Released| 2001
Genre| Jazz
Length| 59:18
Label| Mapleshade Records
08532

Sunshower is an album by pianist Larry Willis, released in 2001 by Mapleshade Records. On the album, Willis is joined by cellist Kash Killion, bassist Steve Novosel, and drummers Paul Murphy and Steve Berrios.[1][2][3]

Track 4, Jackie McLean's "Melody for Melonae", from his album Let Freedom Ring, is incorrectly titled "Little Melonae" on Sunshower.[4]

## Reception

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Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz| [5]

In a review for AllMusic, Alex Henderson called the album "another excellent CD," and praised Killion's cello playing, writing: "Willis gives Killion plenty of room to stretch out, and that's a very good thing, because not only does Killion have a gorgeous sound, he is also an incredibly lyrical and expressive player." Henderson commented: "Sunshower isn't the sort of album in which the musicians spend their time showing us how fast they can play... this post-bop CD is about expression and emotion rather than pyrotechnics... [a] consistently thoughtful CD."[4]

The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings called the album "an intriguing instance of Willis's interest in extending the language of the orthodox piano trio," and stated: "the language of the session is subdued, tonally quite dark, and unhurried. All the better for that... since it allows the pianist's harmonic ideas to linger in the air and not be buried by 'technique'... this is well worth getting."[5]

## Track listing

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1. "Summer Serenade" (Benny Carter) – 6:10
2. "Soul Eyes" (Mal Waldron) – 10:59
3. "Sunshower" (Nacio Herb Brown/Arthur Freed) – 6:51
4. "Melody for Melonae" (mistitled as "Little Melonae") (Jackie McLean) – 7:35
5. "Horizon" (Larry Willis) – 8:54
6. "Poor Eric" (Larry Willis) – 9:43
7. "Wah-No-Nahné" (Larry Willis) – 9:02

## Personnel

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* Larry Willis – piano
* Kash Killion – cello
* Steve Novosel – bass
* Paul F. Murphy – drums
* Steve Berrios – drums

## References

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1. ^ "Larry Willis: Sunshower". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
2. ^ "Larry Willis discography". Jazz Lists. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
3. ^ "Larry Willis: Sunshower". Mapleshade Records. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
4. ^ a b c Henderson, Alex. "Larry Willis: Sunshower". AllMusic. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
5. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 1514.

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Larry Willis

Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.

Albums|

* A New Kind of Soul (1970)
* Inner Crisis (1973)
* My Funny Valentine (1988)
* Just in Time (1989)
* Heavy Blue (1989)
* Let's Play (1991)
* How Do You Keep the Music Playing? (1992)
* A Tribute to Someone (1993)
* Sunshower (2001)
* The Powers of Two (2004)
* The Big Push (2005)
* Blue Fable (2006)
* The Offering (2007)
* This Time the Dream's on Me (2011)

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