Live At Delaney & Murphy's (Crumblehead) was recorded two years ago and makes a fine release two years later. It features Holman on piano, plus Larry Gray on bass and Robert Shy, and is an intimate recording of the trio, so intimate that at times you hear more of the crowd than the actual movie. Is it bootleg quality? Not really, or in this case it's not rough. Everything is mic'd fairly well so you get to hear them play some pretty intense material, such as Miles Davis' "Nardis", Johnny Mandel's "Emily", and the Paul Desmond composition "Take Five", as made famous by Dave Brubeck. It's intimate because you do feel as if you're right in the club, concentrating on the music and everyone else is talking to each other or grabbing for drinks at the bar. I would have preferred something that reduced the audience at least a bit, but the great thing about it is that you do get to hear what goes on in the room. Gray has a way of playing the bass that just makes the room feel a lot bigger, and of coruse when Holman plays the piano, it's just brilliance of a higher level. These guys are just on the money throughout the performance, and the crowd knows this by applauding accordingly.
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Scott Holman is not just a Chicago treasure, not just a jazz treasure, he and his colleagues Gray and Shy are what you find at the end of the music rainbow.  A sensational live disk.  I hate it when music like this is pigeonholed as "traditional" jazz, as though only guys who sleep with their old George Shearing/Shelley Manne/Ray Brown vinyl will find it of interest.  Listen to the sinister spin they give to "Take Five."  Thought you enough versions of "Polkadots and Moonbeams"?  This one will make you cry.  Miles Davis might have gotten clean if he knew "Nardis" would get this kind of treatment.  The ensemble playing:  Virtuosity without any of the look-at-me showiness that can mar a trio with three such distinctive voices.  A final note on the mix:  Beautiful separation between the instruments -- Holman and Gray never get in the way of one another's melodicism.  And Shy is always right there -- just right there -- where you want him.  This is vital music that you have to grab when you have a chance.
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This disk really is just like 'being there.'  The combination of heart and musicianship is just delightful.  The song selection is very good - lots of swingin' going on, and including fan favorite "Misty" made the disk swing even more.  Live jazz - very satisfying!
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I heard the music originally just the way jazz should be heard -- in a dark, smokey bar, with glasses clinking in the background, accompanied by good friends, and a fine bottle of wine.  The CD brings me back.
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