What is the Story behind each CD?
Longer Than Forever
The idea for Longer than Forever is two fold. The words come from a Hawaiian Wedding song that talks of a romance that will be true and last longer than we can even imagine. Such is my love for music. The other reason for the title is my appreciation for musicians who have opened my eyes to jazz, over the years. I am hoping that if there is a Heaven, I can jam with all of them - forever, or even longer! To George Shearing I give you a small glimmer of his early sounds via We'll Be Together Again, I'll Never Smile Again, and September in the Rain.
To Peggy Lee, I Love Being Here With You. To Duke Ellington, C Jam Blues. To Antonio Jobim, Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars. To Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, Moon River. To Cole Porter, I Concentrate on You and Dream Dancing. To Fats Waller, Honey Suckle Rose. To Oscar Peterson, Hymn to Freedom - and the list goes on.
Takin' It Easy
Improvisation. .The heart and soul of Jazz. Where you place your own creative heart and soul into a piece of music. You are not reading music written by others, though you may be taking their chord progressions and melody and weaving your own spell around them. Dizzie Gillespie was once asked what makes jazz improvisation ( sic) beautiful. His answer was that beautiful jazz should be played by taking a bite of food between each note. Obviously, for a trumpet player, or any player, he was not meaning for that statement to be taken literally. But, takin' it easy and slowing down the pace is what I think he was getting at. In this Takin' it Easy CD I try to do just that. It is harder than one might imagine. Especialy for jazz piano players who are noted for speeding up the tempo as the tune progresses ( ask any drummer!). I enjoy altering the rhythm and progressions as you can hear on this CD but have tried to keep the music a little dreamy and slower paced, much of the time.
Days of Wine and Roses
My decision, as a musician, in creating this Disc was to show how other percussive instruments can be added to the piano in varying combinations and how this changes the nature of the music. For example, I solo on Ellington's Just Squeeze Me. But when I add a bass to the piano you can hear the addition quite clearly in The Girl From Impanema. Drop the bass and add the guitar and you have Just Friends. Drop the guitar and add the drums and you have a rather unique version of Satin Doll. When the piano is combined with the bass and guitar you have A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, Prelude to a Kiss, As Time Goes By, and I Thought About You. The rest of the songs are with the Full quartet.
Songs of Love
This collection of tunes pays tribute to some of the songs I have enjoyed from my childhood back in the 1930's, 40's and 50's. I have been asked, on occasion, why I don't just play a song the way it is written. For me, that takes all the fun out of the process of playing and is one reason why jazz piano has always had such strong appeal. So, this CD is not only a love affair for me with my piano, but the songs are also songs about love, hence the title, Songs of Love.
Playing solo piano without the rest of the rhythm section, or without benefit of sidemen, carries certain freedoms and restraints as well. I have the freedom to change my mind at the last minute ( second ) about a chord or a rhythm and not get into trouble with the bass, drums or sax. This being my first CD, I have dedicated it to two people who passed on to me whatever genes I recieved for playing the piano. So, my appreciation goes to my grandfather, Narcisse LaRaut and my mother Kathleen LaRaut Wrenn. Many Thanks!