Search - Dave McKenna :: Intimate Evening With Dave Mckenna

Wordsmith of the Ivories

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 05/30/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm surprised this delightful program is so far down in the rankings among McKenna's recordings. It's not enough for this remarkable solo pianist to impersonate a one-man orchestra, to perform the complete works of a single composer, or to work wonders within the confines of a 32 bar standard tune: instead he has to construct marathon medleys based on a word (perhaps "whim" is more like it). Suffice it to say that of the six tracks on the session, three are Dave's serendipitous, word-association medleys, ranging from 12 to 27 minutes in length.



I suppose one could hold it against Dave that his "Thought Medley" doesn't include "I Thought About You" or that his "Change Medley" does include "There'll Be Some Changes Made" (personally I never cared much for that tune). Then there's the longest medley of them all--"Street Medley." OK, he misses "Bourbon Street Parade," which has apparently replaced "Saints" as the most performed song in New Orleans. Maybe Dave 'thought' a 'change' was due, inserting the unfamiliar "Don't Forget 127th Street" just to keep this listener, at least, off balance.



Aside from these minor caveats, this recording is a lovely way to spend an evening. Whether the intent is to play a musical variation of Trivial Pursuit, or simply to listen to an indisputable master of the language of jazz piano (even Art Tatum marveled at Dave's abilities to play independent walking bass lines while blowing up a storm in his right hand), there are good reasons to add this one to the collection."