The latest release from US/UK Jazz musician and composer, Howard Britz is real departure for him and veteran of some 30 years as a working bassist, Britz had increasingly felt restricted in his role on that instrument when playing his own compositions and musical concept. He always wanted to play the piano professionally but had felt that this might be a hard mountain to climb at this time of life. It took over 10 years of serious study before he was able to make this recording and promises to be ongoing for the rest of his life, he says. Listening to 'The Feeling of Jazz' you can see why he needed to play the piano. Turning over the role of bass to the excellent Bill Moring, and with the swinging and sensitive drumming of Eric Halvorson, Britz turns in a beautiful set of varied originals and very personal arrangements. As befits a longtime rhythm section player, its his groove that you notice first off, powerful, unhurried, in command from the word go. As the opening piece, 'Sunday Song' begins, Britz, along with his trio mates, sets a slow, seductive, funky setting for a memorable melodic tune that conjures up the atmosphere of Keith Jarrett's country groove work and Ahmad Jamal's slow builds. The trio is joined on this recording by the great tenor saxophonist, Donny McCaslin who plays on two Britz' originals 'Lifetime' an 'Fifty Seven Varieties' an up tempo Rock/Jazz song, McCaslin leads off in solo that is full of humor, unexpected turns and twists, Britz solo follows and builds up to a kind of Gospel throw down before they rejoin for the out head playing off of each other in a game of 'tag you're it' . One of the great things about this recording is, not supprisingly give Britz' bass playing past, is just how beautifully the he, Moring and Halvorson mesh together swinging, weaving a tapestry of powerful groove and atmospheric settings. In the title track 'The Feeling of Jazz' Britz says, "I was thinking about the great big bands of the 40s Ellington, Basie and Benny Goodman etc, and Jazz/Blues piano players like Gene Harris or Oscar Peterson". Like so much of Ellington’s work it’s deceptively simple sounding but actually, a very sophisticated song. For 'Monk’s Dream' Britz takes the quirky Monk tune and somehow manages to combine stride piano, Jazz waltz and Boogaloo into a seamless piece of music that builds from a solo piano intro to full throttle swing. Eric Halvorson, on drums, takes a delightful tap dancing solo near the end. 'Goodbye (for Dad)' is something of a eulogy for his father who passed away in 2005 and a nod to some 70s Keith Jarrett. Not mournful, more about a sense of peace. For the closing track the trio play the standard Yesterdays, "the vibe of this arrangement is taken from an Elvin Jones album with Mike Stern which has always stuck with me" says Britz