Claude Bolling - With the Help of My Friends (2021)

This is an unusual record. In 1977, Dick Hyman played the standard "A Child Is Born" in the styles of a wide variety of players, but few realize that two years earlier Claude Bolling (in a quartet) paid tribute to a dozen top pianists by writing and performing an original apiece that found him doing close impressions of his predecessors. This is a mostly successful effort that finds Bolling sounding close to Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, Scott Joplin, George Shearing, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Ramsey Lewis, Art Tatum, Jelly Roll Morton and Erroll Garner. Not every stylist is covered (among the missing are James P. Johnson, Teddy Wilson, Bud Powell, McCoy Tyner and Bill Evans), but Bolling does show off his versatility and impressive pianistic skills; the results are quite fun.

Tracklist:
1 01. Claude Bolling - An Oscar for Oscar (To Oscar Peterson) (03:56)
1 02. Claude Bolling - Count on Him (To Count Basie) (03:51)
1 03. Claude Bolling - Bis-Scott Rag (To Scott Joplin) (03:34)
1 04. Claude Bolling - Dear George (To George Shearing) (03:16)
1 05. Claude Bolling - Dave the Brave (To Dave Brubeck) (04:17)
1 06. Claude Bolling - Midnight on the Thelonius (To Thelonius Monk) (03:10)
1 07. Claude Bolling - Duke on My Mind (To Duke Ellington) (03:33)
1 08. Claude Bolling - Fatty Fats (To Fats Waller) (04:44)
1 09. Claude Bolling - Ramsey the Pharoah (To Ramsey Lewis) (03:49)
1 10. Claude Bolling - With Art and Fun (To Art Tatum) (02:43)
1 11. Claude Bolling - Roll Jelly Roll (To Jelly Roll Morton) (03:08)
1 12. Claude Bolling - Erroll in the Blue (To Erroll Garner) (03:25)