Search - Carmen Cavallaro :: Crazy Rhythm

Crazy Rhythm
Carmen Cavallaro
Crazy Rhythm
Genres: Jazz, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (23) - Disc #1

2009 collection from the piano great. that traverses Cavallaro's many styles and moods; a reminder of the range that the giant Cavallaro could muster. With a technique that married glittering, seamless, high-speed arpeggio...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Carmen Cavallaro
Title: Crazy Rhythm
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: 101 DISTRIBUTION
Release Date: 3/10/2009
Album Type: Import
Genres: Jazz, Pop
Style: Easy Listening
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 5024952770236

Synopsis

Album Description
2009 collection from the piano great. that traverses Cavallaro's many styles and moods; a reminder of the range that the giant Cavallaro could muster. With a technique that married glittering, seamless, high-speed arpeggios with a disarming saccharine lyricism, Carmen Cavallaro's `Poet of the Piano' definition was apposite. A forerunner of the classical-pop `cross-over' that reached its high tide with Liberace, Cavallaro began his musical career as a local solo attraction at plush nightclub venues and on radio. Later, darling of the ivories, Carmen reached a global audience through recordings, film and TV appearances. Bygone Days.

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CD Reviews

Invite the brilliant king of cocktail piano into your home
Edward H. Binns | Hot Springs, SD | 05/20/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a meticulously remastered CD of much of Cavallaro's best work. It contains four types of Cavallaro music - pop versions of classics, cocktail piano numbers, small group jazz work from the "Carmen Cavallaro at the Embers" album, and examples of Cavallaro with a full band.



Full Moon and Empty Arms was Cavallaro's pop adaptation of a Rachmaninoff theme. Polonaise was a pop version of a Chopin composition which made Cavallaro a star.



Most of the "Crazy Rhythm" album consists of cocktail piano pieces that are sentimental, intimate and technically flawless.



Cavallaro transitioned to jazz combo work in 1957 with an appearance at The Embers in New York. This was made into an album from which three songs appear on "Crazy Rhythm": The Lady Is a Tramp, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, and Crazy Rhythm. "At the Embers" is available as a CD, but these three songs have been remastered in a superior manner on the "Crazy Rhythm" CD.



Cavallaro's work with a full sized band is represented by several songs: Dizzy Fingers, On the Sunny Side of the Street, Brazil, Autumn in New York and Carioca. Not only is Cavallaro's touch and timing outstanding, he transitions to and from the other instruments with an astonishing, flawless, lightning-fast technique. Carioca, recorded in 1946, received radio air time for more than 20 years. The meticulous remastering for this CD shows why Cavallaro's interpretation was so masterful and enduring.



Cavallaro has been compared to his society band predecessor Eddy Duchin and to his successor Liberace. Though they often played the same songs, even at the same hotel ballrooms, Cavallaro raised himself to a higher level through his musicianship and technical skill. He went beyond flashy playing to an obsession with perfection which he was able to demonstrate reliably to his audiences. He was the pianist under the baton of Victor Young at a Hollywood Bowl all-Gershwin recital in 1945. Cavallaro played Franz Liszt music for a Hollywood movie soundtrack, something unimaginable for the talents of Duchin or Liberace. In the pop genre, Cavallaro particularly excelled in Richard Rodgers tunes, Cole Porter standards, Italian songs and Latin compositions.



Liner notes on Cavallaro's background are included with "Crazy Rhythm" and are the best comprehensive biography of his career that I have read anywhere.



His technical mastery was well captured on his "Cavallaro Plays his Showstoppers" album, which has not been remastered to a CD. In a final counting, Cavallaro may deserve to be grouped with other classically trained New York piano giants like Oscar Levant and Peter Nero. The "Crazy Rhythm" CD is a great sample of his style. Buy it if you have children -!-- because it can train their young ears to what a Steinway ought to sound like.



Other recommended albums: "Carmen Cavallaro at the Embers" as well as "Carmen Cavallaro Stairway to the Stars" (a Jasmine two CD set)."