A fine pianist who was originally heavily influenced by McCoy Tyner, Joe Bonner is an excellent interpreter of modal-based music and advanced hard bop. He studied music at Virginia State College and early on played with Roy Haynes (1970-1971), Freddie Hubbard (1971-1972), Pharoah Sanders (1972-1974), and Billy Harper (late '70s). Bonner, who recorded as a leader for Muse, Theresa, and most prominently Steeplechase, has been based in Colorado since the 1980s and remains a talented improviser. - Scott Yanow
Tracks
1.1 Suburban Fantasies (Bonner)
1.2 The Walk Street (Bonner)
1.3 Copenhagen Revisited (Bonner)
1.4 Blues For Nick (Dyani)
1.5 Soap Opera (Bonner)
1.6 We Will Be Together (Bonner)
1.7 The Year Of The Child (Dyani)
2.1 A Tale Of Two Cities (Bonner)
2.2 Devotion (Bonner)
2.3 Gone With The Wind (Wrubel/Magidson)
2.4 Flat-Top (Bonner)
2.5 Song For Cathy (Bonner)
2.6 Come Sunday (Ellington)
2.7 Epistophy (Monk)
2.8 Getting You Off My Mind (Bonner)
2.9 Wild Is The Wind (Washington)
JOE BONNER piano
JOHNNY DYANI bass (disc-1)
Recorded February 18 & 20, 1983 at Easy Sound Studio, Copenhagen, Denmark
SteepleChase Records - SCCD 37033/34 Denmark