Franco D'Andrea Trio - Standards of the Big Band Era (Chapter 1) (2002)

The first of three volumes of the Philology series Standards of the Big Band Era by pianist Franco d'Andrea's trio pretty much sticks to popular songs and themes heard during the heyday of the big bands of Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Glenn Miller, and Charlie Barnet. But there's nothing that suggests the typically smooth and easygoing interpretations of their music by d'Andrea and his associates, bassist Ares Tavolazzi and drummer Massimo Manzi. Miller's music in particular has never been interpreted so differently. "Moonlight Serenade" is transformed into a quirky Latin-flavored setting, with d'Andrea's wild solo over Tavolazzi's rocksteady vamp and Tavolazzi's tantalizing percussion. "In the Mood" becomes a dark post-bop waltz with a playful introduction by d'Andrea. "Snowfall" was Thornhill's mellow theme song; the trio introduces it with a sparse drum solo, and then the leader enters with a series of lightning-fast, somewhat repetitious runs and chords, toying with the melody but never getting very close to it. "Goodbye," long a sign-off theme for Goodman even well after the heyday of the big bands, finds d'Andrea in a slightly more conservative mood, though following an adventurous solo introduction. A similar approach is taken to Hampton's "Midnight Sun," though he quickly reverts to the blazing, dissonant runs used elsewhere. Fans who lived through the big-band era may find this CD a bit too daring for their tastes, but most jazz listeners may see this music in a new light with d'Andrea's thought-provoking treatments of these decades-old themes. Highly recommended. © Ken Dryden