DICK HYMAN & RUBY BRAFF: Manhattan Jazz

Manhattan Jazz, Dick Hyman & Ruby Braff liner notes

Writers used to discuss styles of jazz which were allegedly indigenous to New Orleans, to Kansas City, to Chicago, and so forth; but if this kind of labeling ever worked at all, it was never possible to categorize the myriad music-making of New York under one banner, even if you confined it to a single borough. Besides, both Ruby and I are a bit slippery to define in terms of style, and furthermore he lives in the Bronx. I reside here in Manhattan, however, right on naughty, sporty Forty-Second Street, but I do not believe that my playing has been inspired by the rhythm of the waves lapping on the shores of the refuse-strewn Hudson two blocks west. Finally, even if there were such a thing as Manhattan jazz, Ruby would on principle be opposed to it, and if you called him up to discuss the matter, especially too early in the morning, he would tell you what he thought in Boston-accented prose which would probably make you reconsider the whole thing. The fact is, our present album is so called because the selections on if were digitally recorded in the studios of the Manhattan Recording Company for an American Public Radio series entitled the "Manhattan Jazz Hour." Our friend John S. Wilson, he of the New York Times, who has unique insights into matters jazz, Manhattan or otherwise, functioned as the host of this program and asked us to join him for the taping which took place on December 3, 1985.