Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Cedar Walton: Underground Memoirs
Cedar Walton: Underground Memoirs
ByWalton combines his uniquely personal phraseology, with surprising variations in tempo and dynamics, to offer new perspectives on the familiar compositions he's chosen: selections from the Miles, Duke, Nat King Cole and Great American Songbooks, as well as the beautiful original title track. The pianist approaches the material with subtlety, sophistication and sensitivity, leaning more towards Ellingtonian elegance than Tatum-esque ornamentation, making this his most romantic disc to date. There is an honest intimacy to the music, the feeling of one man at home with his piano or, at times, more specifically, Walton himself, sitting in Bradley's, playing Paul Desmond's old Baldwin into the wee hours.
On the opening "Milestones (the first version, not the later, more popular title track of the classic Miles record), Walton approaches the music, particularly the bridge, with reflective cautiousness. On "Lost Paradise, he's settled in. His overture to "Someday My Prince Will Come is a superb introduction to the waltzing melody, and his rhythmic interpretation of "Con Alma is delightfully original. Renditions of the standards "Skylark, "Every Time We Say Goodbye, "Green Dolphin Street and "I Want To Talk About You demonstrate a clear mastery of the idiom, just as his reading of "Sophisticated Lady displays an analogous ability as an interpreter of Ellingtonia. The lyrical melancholic "Underground Memoirs proves Walton to be a composer of melodies worthy of sharing company with the other classics on this truly excellent effort.
Track Listing
Milestones; Lost April; Someday My Prince Will Come; Con Alma; Skylark; Everytime We Say Goodbye; On Green Dolphin Street; Underground Memoirs; Sophisticated Lady;I Want to Talk About You.
Personnel
Cedar Walton
pianoCedar Walton: piano.
Album information
Title: Underground Memoirs | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: HighNote Records