William Ash Trio

William Ash Trio: The Phoenix

by Eric J. Iannelli
February 3, 2005

The Phoenix is an easy chair album. It isn't just that an easy chair happens to be the ideal place to listen to it; the album itself is comfortable, familiar, modest, timeless. Taking after Wes Montgomery, an influence William Ash acknowledges alongside Barry Harris, the guitarist emphasizes economy instead of fireworks, thoughtful precision and not profligacy. The disc was recorded in a complimentary way that suggests the warm and ambient sound “of a Rock-Ola jukebox playing your favorite 45s," a ...