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Rick Germanson: You Tell Me
As a pianist, Germanson uses traditional voicings and textures, but it's apparent that he's studied and absorbed that tradition deeply, so that his ideas come out effortlessly and naturally in his own voice. "In the Cut" is the original blues on the album, a good composition whose theme is heavily (and trickily) syncopated and which uses some interesting substitutions for the traditional twelve-bar blues chord progression.
Germanson's technique can be eyebrow-raising, as in some of the runs up and down the keyboard in "Theme for Eliot" (written for his son), but it is evidence of his taste that he doesn't exhibit such flashiness at every opportunity.
A high point of the album comes with the sixth track, a cover of "It Was A Very Good Year." It's hard not to hear Frank Sinatra's voice in one's head when Germanson states the classic melody, but the piece's brisk tempo, together with Ralph Peterson's dynamic cymbals-and-rims drumming and Germanson's harmonies, firmly fixes the pianist's stamp on this one.
To close the set, Germanson offers a gorgeous solo piano take on Mel Torme's "Born to Be Blue," full of big, lush chords and given an easy stride pacing.
Track Listing
Entropy; Dance of the Forgotten; In the Cut; Theme for Eliot; Angel Eyes; It Was A Very Good Year; Alter Ego; Erika's Endeavor; Born to Be Blue.
Personnel
Rick Germanson
pianoRick Germanson: piano; Gerald Cannon: bass; Ralph Peterson: drums.
Album information
Title: You Tell Me | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Fresh Sound New Talent