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Heather Masse & Dick Hyman: Lock My Heart
by C. Michael Bailey
Vocalist/songwriter Heather Masse received her didactic training at the New England Conservatory of Music and her practicum on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. Her academy training was in jazz vocals, but her practical experience reflects more folk- flavored fare. Her previous recording, Bird Song (Red House, 2009), was a well- received collections of folk originals, solidifying Masse's folk bona fides established with the wildly popular Wailin' Jennys. Her voice is user friendly, neither over-practiced nor hyper-informed by her education. ...
Continue ReadingDick Hyman: Century of Jazz Piano
by Graham L. Flanagan
Dick Hyman Century of Jazz Piano Arbors Records 2010
This intimidating, six-disc set (five CDs and a DVD) succeeds on two key levels. Rarely do we find a release that is equally effective in terms of its value as both an educational tool and a source of entertainment. Dick Hyman remains one of the most important figures in jazz today and--with this set--you soon find out why. What makes ...
Continue ReadingDick Hyman: In Concert at the Old Mill Inn
by Ken Dryden
During his lengthy professional career, pianist Dick Hyman has been a first-call studio player for many kinds of music, in addition to being able to play any style in the history of jazz. As well as being a sideman with Benny Goodman, Hyman worked in a duo with the late cornetist Ruby Braff, played pipe, Hammond and theater organs, along with taking part leading various size jazz ensembles and creating soundtracks for several Woody Allen films. But Hyman's greatest strength ...
Continue ReadingDick Hyman: Thinking About Bix (Piano Solo)
by George Kanzler
A piano is not a cornet. That should be obvious, yet both the name of the label, Reference Recordings and statements like this one by pianist Dick Hyman in the notes--"As with all of these replicas, I've tried to reproduce Bix' solo exactly."--belie that obvious fact. Hyman's reproductions of cornet solos by Bix Beiderbecke lack not only the sounds characteristic of brass wind instruments, but the context of those solos. This is an unaccompanied piano recording; Bix recorded the solos ...
Continue ReadingDick Hyman/Chris Hopkins: Teddy Wilson in 4 Hands
by Graham L. Flanagan
We have yet to reach the halfway point in 2008, but a top contender for Best Jazz Piano Album of the Year has already emerged. Jazz institution Dick Hyman and Chris Hopkins celebrate the legendary Teddy Wilson with this duet release, recorded in late 2006. The release contains seventeen selections, most of which are tunes that Wilson recorded when he was a member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra (and smaller Goodman-led combos) in the 1930s. All but ...
Continue ReadingMeral Guneyman: Playful Virtuosity
by Terrell Kent Holmes
Pianist Meral Guneyman appeared to be slightly nervous when she took the stage recently at the 92nd Street Y's concert “Piano Players: New York Mix." But after a glowing introduction from the show's artistic director Dick Hyman, she launched into a powerful solo version of “The Clothed Woman," one of several Ellington classics she played that evening with strong emotion and arresting dexterity. Later Hyman sat at another piano and they reprised his challenging arrangement of “Solitude," skillfully filling in ...
Continue ReadingDick Hyman
by Ken Dryden
Dick Hyman is one of the most versatile jazz pianists, equally at home in ragtime, stride, swing and bop. He's been a full-time professional for nearly 60 years, with many solo piano recordings, a series of duos with the late Ruby Braff, plus albums of piano duets with Derek Smith, Ralph Sutton, Dick Wellstood and Roger Kellaway, in his extensive discography, which also features outings with larger groups. Hyman has composed and arranged for numerous film soundtracks and record dates. ...
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