Roland Hanna - Solo Piano (2011)

• The jazz nobility has its own Duke, Count, Earl and even a king –all pianists- but only one knight. Sir Roland Hanna, also a keyboard master. Hanna received his title in 1969: it was conferred on him by the late President William Tubman of Liberia. Sir Roland Hanna is one of the most flexible pianists of any generation. He has played with Benny Goodman, Charlie Mingus, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Al Hibbler, Coleman Hawkins and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. He was born 1932 in Detroit and was one of the many pianists that came from Detroit Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones and Barry Harris. He was inspired by Tommy Flanagan, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Art Tatum. He was a two-handed pianists which you can hear on these two solo piano CD’s.

• Sir Roland Hanna is one of many great jazz pianists from Detroit. Despite a long, fruitful career, he deserves greater merit and critical acclaim than he has yet been granted. Classically trained but also a formidable bop stylist, Solo Piano was recorded in a private home in France during the summer of 1974. Eleven tracks appeared on an obscure LP issued by Hi-Fly, and two bonus tracks appear on this Storyville CD reissue; the latter are previously unreleased. The less-than-high-tech audio makes the session sound as if it had been recorded two decades earlier, though the piano is in tune and Hanna's performances are consistently at a high level. His wailing interpretation of "Stompin' at the Savoy" and the introspective, extended workout of "Willow Weep for Me" are extraordinary. The pianist turns on the afterburners in his flashy original "Anoné," and also revisits his dramatic ballad "Perugia." The bonus material includes the Gershwins' less-frequently played "Isn't It a Pity," and an inventive, lyrical, ten-minute workout of "All Things You Are." ~ Ken Dryden