![]() ![]() Opalessence‘s drummer Kenny Washington, also known to me as “The Jazz Maniac” on New York/New Jersey’s jazz station WBGO, was paired up with bassist Peter Washington on many Criss Cross recordings, and in 1997 they recorded All Through the Night with Criss Cross artist Bill Charlap, and thus came about my favorite contemporary jazz trio.) ![]() The first time I remember being aware of Ray Drummond was he and Victor Lewis supplying the rhythm for one of my favorite West Coast pianists, Jessica Williams. (Harrell’s association with Ray Drummond goes back to his Stanford days. The Criss Cross albums are easily recognizable from their cookie-cutter covers, on which a one-time studio assemblage is made to sound like a permanent group, I guess an ego-booster and public relations touch for the leader! Opalessence has a front line of Harrell and Pepper Adams on baritone sax and a rhythm section of Ray Drummond (bass) and Kenny Washington (drums). In New York, Teekens “had his coat constantly pulled by musicians about trumpeter Tom Harrell” (liner notes to Moon Alley – see below), and Teekens went with the recommendation. I was an undergraduate at NYU at that time, and though computer programming was the last thing on my mind then, I eventually went on to a career in IT.) O’Brien was the pianist on Chet Baker’s 1984 Criss Cross outing Blues for a Reason and the leader on the 1985 Opalessence (Criss Cross catalog numbers 10, respectively, the label’s tenth and twelfth jazz recordings). Along the way, O’Brien earned a degree at Columbia University studying psychology and mathematics and, from 1969-1974, taught computer programming at New York University. O’Brien had played with many jazz notables in the 50s and 60s. One such Criss Cross artist was the pianist Hod O’Brien. ![]() Hod O’BrienĬriss Cross has sustained or jump started the careers of quite an impressive list of American jazz artists. The name refers to Teekens and his crew crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean several times a year, since the label did recording sessions both in the Netherlands and in the U.S. ![]() Gerry (Geert) Teekens, a one time German professor and drummer, founded the Dutch label Criss Cross (aka Criss Cross Jazz) in 1981. ![]()
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