Andre
Previn
Live at the Jazz Standard
With David Finck
DECCA 013 220-2
Crotchet
Westwood Walk
Hi Blondie
My Funny Valentine
What is this Thing Called Love?
Come Sunday
Fungo
Chelsea Bridge
Bye Bye Sky
Batter Up
Quiet Music/ New Valley
Oh, Lady Be Good
I Got Rhythm
Andre Previn – Piano David Finck – Bass
A new jazz album from Andre Previn is
always something to look forward to and this one recorded live at the
Jazz Standard in New York is something really special. Previn must be
the most accomplished musician of his era, he is a major classical composer
and conductor, he has produced many memorable film scores and above
all, he is a superb and exciting jazz pianist with great ideas and the
technique to enable him to execute them.
The choice of music is also excellent,
we live in an age where many jazz performers prefer to play their own
compositions, or those of other band members and most of these are seriously
inferior to the great jazz standards. Don’t get me wrong, of course
there is a place for new compositions and on this album 5 out of 12
are new to most listeners, a good balance. The performers, who scorn
the great standards in favour of material that no one has ever heard
of, are not great friends of the jazz cause. Just listen to Previn on
My Funny Valentine and I Got Rhythm, tunes we have all played hundreds
of times, in his hands they are full of new music.
The standards on the album come from
Ellington, Strayhorn, The Gershwins, Cole Porter, Rogers and Hart etc
demonstrating that Andre Previn also has great taste,
David Finck is a master Bass player
who paid his dues in the Woody Herman Band; his support to the soloist
is first class and his own solo work authoritative. I must confess to
missing a drummer Shelley Manne was a sensation on the My Fair Lady
album! I always wonder whether duo’s are an economic or an artistic
decision, it is not so much the swing aspect, these guys have that in
plenty, but the drummer also underlines the dynamics of the performance.
(Or should do!)
What is a source of amazement to me, is that someone
who has spent most of the last 40 years as one of the busiest composer
/conductors in the world of classical music, can still make a jazz album
that pins your ears back and leaves you wanting more! Genius is a word
in too common use these days but Andre Previn must be close to it.
Don Mather
Don Mather is a saxophone player
and Bandleader in Coventry
CD Reviews
