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Richie Beirach: Leaving
ByAll of the material is more than familiar to Beirach and will be equally well known to seasoned jazz fans. In his liner note, Beirach says that this was intentional. He wanted to roam freely over material that he knew as well as the backs of his hands, taking whatever twists and turns flashed into his mind on the hoof, and he wanted the audience, too, to be so at home with the tunes that they would have a frame of reference for every diversion, digression and discursion that he embarked on. Composers include Miles Davis, Cole Porter, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Rodgers, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Full track listing below.
Beirach also says that he did not approach the performance with a setlist. Instead he made a long list of many tunes he considered playing that evening and at the top of the list wrote: "Choose from." At this point in his life as a pianist, he says, he has put aside intellectual considerations such as consciously thinking about the music at hand or preparing a programme in advance. He is instead wholly concerned with expressionism and being in the moment. (He expounds further on this in the YouTube clip below).
What results are not definitive, or even necessarily substantial, reimaginings of the thirteen warhorses, but rather the spontaneous musical equivalent of a word association game.
The more familiar the listener is with the source material, the more compelling they are likely to find Beirach's expositions. Non-sequiturs abound, as do rococo embellishments and, frankly, melodramatic flourishes. The prevailing mood is rhythmically intense and the only sustained moments of reflection come with the closing "Leaving" and "Sunday Song." But the overall effect is as Beirach intended, and seventy-five unpredictable minutes fly by.
Track Listing
Nardis; What Is This Thing Called Love? / Alone Together / Blue In Green; Round Midnight; On Green Dolphin Street; Some Other Time; Solar; Spring Is Here / Maiden Voyage / Monk's Dream / You Don't Know What Love Is; Footprints; Leaving / Sunday Song.
Personnel
Richie Beirach
pianoAlbum information
Title: Leaving | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Jazzline Records
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