Disc 1
1. Introduction By Alyn Shipton
2. Tea For Two
3. Ain't Misbehavin'
4. Love Lies
5. Honeysuckle Rose
6. Medley: Old Folks / Cottage For Sale / 'Taint
So, Honey, 'Taint So
7. Viper's Drag
8. Medley: Sophisticated Lady / Ring Dem Bells
Disc 2
1. Introduction By Alyn Shipton
2. Morning Air
3. Ralph's story about Morning Air
4. Echo of Spring
5. Ralph talks about Willie The Lion
6. Dinah
7. When I Grow Too Old to Dream
8. Medley: The Jitterbug Waltz / Say Yes / You're
Slightly Less Than Wonderful / The Ladies Who
Sing With the Band
9. Medley: Cabin In The Sky / Taking A Chance
On Love / Old Fashioned Love
10. Eye Opener
11. St. Louis Blues
Ralph Sutton – Piano
In
his introduction to this album, Alyn Shipton
describes Ralph Sutton as "the last of
the great pianists in the style of jazz called
Harlem stride,…a virtuoso style with a distinctive
left-hand bass pattern". This description
is really too restrictive to cover Sutton’s
playing adequately. In fact a strong left-hand
pattern is not universally present on every
track. Ralph’s style is also notable for such
elements as the "filigree ornamentation"
which Shipton mentions later, as well as the
frequent variations in rhythm which Ralph
uses in many pieces. His playing is often
highly decorative, without any striding left
hand, and he seldom maintains a continuous
beat throughout the tunes on this double CD.
There is also the wit evident in his cheeky
quotations in Ain’t Misbehavin’ from
Rhapsody in Blue, Ol’ Man River
and Tiptoe Through the Tulips!
Of
course, Ralph Sutton is a devotee of Fats
Waller, as is clear from the style and the
repertoire, which includes seven Waller compositions
– not only the familiar Honeysuckle Rose
and Viper’s Drag but also lesser-known
pieces like Say Yes and The Ladies
Who Sing with the Band. This reflects
Ralph’s ability to mix the well-known with
the unfamiliar, the latter including Love
Lies (which he says he learnt from Jack
Teagarden) and Morning Air, a highly
ornamented piece by Willie "The Lion"
Smith. Whatever tune he’s playing, Ralph draws
you along with the invention and variety of
his improvising.
The
recording was made at a BBC concert in 1992
at the converted St George’s Church in Bristol,
whose lucid acoustic is ideal for a solo pianist.
You can tell it was a BBC broadcast, as the
first disc ends with presenter Alyn Shipton
saying "You can hear the second half
next Monday evening".
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Arbors Jazz
ARCD 19336
