Customer Reviews

Grand Piano

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

George Shearing is most famous for his work with a dazzling quintet, but this disc shows just how delicate a touch he has on his own. One of the original poets of the piano, he created some very idiosyncratic arrangements for this disc that will intrigue piano lovers and likely baffle many listeners who know him only from his quintet recordings. A Satie Gymnopedie slowly melds into It Never Entered My Mind -- it's a good minjute and a half before the listeners is really sure what the piece is. He gives similarly intriguing arrangements of Mack the Knife (taken at anything but the fast tempo in which the piece is customarily offered) and his contrast of a Chopin prelude with the Jobim song it inspired is entrancing. I even liked Shearing's short vocal; if it's not your cup of tea you can skip over it -- it's certainly no blemish worth detracting a star from the review.

I've had this album for years and it remains one of my all-time favorites. Mr. Shearing's rendition of "It Never Entered My Mind," pairing it with Satie's Gymnopedie, is achingly beautiful. So is "Mack The Knife", with with its slow, direct progression. He then treats you a playful rendition of "Nobody Else But Me," and you're practically transported to another era. Shearing on piano is one of life's treats. If you don't have this album, you're missing out.

If you are a jazz pianist, the name George Shearing is directly associated with a sophisticated Modern Harmony.

In this CD you will discover some gems mixing classical music with pop standards and jazz harmony. Beautiful.

Second in the trilogy of Concord solo Shearing albums (the others being the similarly dry titles "Piano" and "More Grand Piano"), this album presents some lovely examples of his affection for tasteful jazz with classical overtones. "It Never Entered My Mind" is so close to a Satie "Gymnopedie" you might be fooled by a blindfold listening test if you didn't know the tune. "Mack the Knife" gets a grim, sparse reading that is the exact opposite of Bobby Darin's hit version. "How Insensitive" blatantly exposes the shared harmonic structures of the Jobim tune and a Chopin prelude. And in "Imitations", Shearing even sings... he should certainly keep his day job, but his wavering crooning and the searching lyrics are a good match. As on the other solo Concord Shearing albums, my only reservation is with the up-tempo numbers, which seem out of place and lack originality. Hardly a reason to pass up this wonderful CD, though.