March 2000

Ron Elliston/Ronnie Wells and Friends
After You
Jazz Karma Records

By Dave Burns

After You was recorded live in '94 at the Montpelier Cultural Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland. "Friends" include James King, bass, David Lopez, drums and also Mike Smith, drums, and Tony Williams, alto, on some tracks. Ron Elliston enriches the title track, one of Cole Porter's most poignant, with interesting harmonies, and proves that it is indeed possible to swing at a modest tempo. Paul Wingo, guitar, backs the verse on "These Foolish Things;" Jon Metzger, vibes, adds spice to "Everything Happens to Me." "Alone Together" is taken as a march, and it works. The closer, "Steppin' Out," is a blues antithesis of Berlin's "Stepping Out With My Baby."