Search - Ted Rosenthal :: My Funny Valentine

Dull, dull, dull

Matthew Watters | Vietnam | 12/06/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The performance of this particular piano trio on a programme of time-tested standards cannot be faulted. Rosenthal has scrupulously recreated the Bill Evans- (and, dare I say, Vince Guaraldi-?) style of piano trio to a T, and Venus Records has recorded it sumptuously. Problem is: it's just dreadfully boring. This album says absolutely nothing new, adds absolutely nothing to any of these well-worn tunes that wasn't said 50 years earlier, and it lacks even the smallest trace of that mystery that elevates the greatest jazz and that sends you back again, to re-listen and try to unlock the secrets. Listen to Rosenthal's My Funny Valentine once, and you've heard everything it has to say. No repeat listens required. But, I'll give it an extra star for Al Foster, a swinging and unselfconscious drummer with a light, loose and melodic touch."