Alan Broadbent - Live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol.14 (1991)

When Alan Broadbent was given a chance to shine in this solo setting in the Berkeley hills, he kept things relatively spare and to the point, unlike most of the finger-busting pianists in the Maybeck series. But flashier is not necessarily better, and Broadbent gets a lot more music out of fewer notes in these 13 selections. Among them are three originals, the longest of which, "Woody 'N' I" (no doubt a memorial to his late employer, Woody Herman), climaxes in mighty waves closer in idiom to Rachmaninoff than jazz per se. Broadbent is especially adept at getting some great solo breaks with walking bass going, particularly on "Strollin'," "Sweet and Lovely," and "Upper Manhattan Medical Group." Elsewhere, "I Hear a Rhapsody" contains echoes of "Along Came Betty," "Oleo" relies on some unison octave work, "Lennie's Pennies" has deliciously twisting right-hand bop lines, Horace Silver's "Strollin'" harkens back somewhat to an earlier locked-hands era, and yes, "Parisian Thoroughfare" finally turns on the technique in a torrent.


Tracks:

01. Introduction 0:15
02. I Hear a Rhapsody 3:36
03. Oleo 3:02
04. You've Changed 4:45
05. Lennie's Pennies 3:31
06. Strollin' 4:02
07. Peace 4:10
08. Nardis 3:58
09. Woody 'N' I 6:36
10. Sweet And Lovely 4:00
11. Mendocino Nights 5:22
12. Upper Manhattan Medical Group 5:26
13. Don't Ask Why 4:59
14. Parisian Thoroughfare 3:4