Jim McNeely - Live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol.20 (1992)

In a rare solo flight, Jim McNeely is anything but predictable in Vol. 20 of the Maybeck Recital Hall series, where he applies his considerable technique and freewheeling imagination to a collection of pop and jazz standards, plus two originals. After a minimalist opening, "There Will Never Be Another You" turns into a complex, agitated thing, and Jobim's "Zingaro" is deconstructed after a token stab at a bossa feeling. Monk's "Bye Ya" is similarly original and convoluted in concept, while its Monkish companion "'Round Midnight" is paradoxically straightforward. McNeely also includes two compositions of his own -- a mostly reflective piece called "Touch" that works best when planted upon a single ostinato, and the tumbling "Breaking Up, Breaking Out." Sometimes the inspiration level is uneven, but the payoff is high when all cylinders are pumping.


Tracks:

01. Introductory Announcement - 0:12
02. There Will Never Be Another You (Warren-Gordon) - 5:28
03. Zingaro (Jobim) - 9:14
04. Bye-Ya (Monk) - 7:04
05. 'Round Midnight (Monk-Williams-Hanighen) - 7:58
06. Un Poco Loco (Powell) - 6:08
07. Touch (McNeely) - 8:59
08. All the Things You Are (Hammerstein-Kern) - 7:01
09. Body and Soul (Green-Heyman-Sour-Eyton) - 8:37
10. Breaking Up, Breaking Out (McNeely) - 6:51

Personnel:

Jim McNeely - piano
Recorded live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Berkeley, CA on January 27, 1992.