For some reason or other when the 'my favourite pianist' question crops up Roger Kellaway's name is rarely in the frame. I too have been guilty of that omission and, as I listen to this recording from Mezzrow I'm giving myself a virtual slap on the wrist as I realise what I've been missing.
Opening the album with a solo version of Try to Remember, a song from the 1965 musical The Fantastiks, Kellaway draws some meaning out of this much overlooked composition. Deeply reflective, as befits the title, exploring its many possibilities and, ultimately, making it his own.
All Blues, one of three pieces from that album, the 84-year-old pianist has no qualms about offering an alternative to what Miles, Trane, Cannon and Evans had previously laid down giving it the full hands on treatment. Leonhardt's bowed solo ups the ante - Paul Chambers not withstanding. Blue in Green and So What? go down a similar route. Sacrilege? Well I'm not complaining!
The two Ettore Stratta numbers featuring guitarist Ben-Hur add a Latinesque touch and reveal the guitarist to be a supercharged power player, particularly on Good Morning Bahia.
Kellaway's own composition, All my Life, is just that - personal and introspective. Straight no Chaser brings Ben-Hur back and all four show Monk the respect the composer deserves whilst still injecting their own DNA into the performance.
Earlier today I remarked on Don Sebesky's arrangement of Take the A Train as played by the Bold Big Band. They took it apart in rip-roaring fashion. Roger Kellaway does likewise albeit in the opposite direction. Slower than the original but no less powerful. Indeed when the pianist hits the piano with all ten fingers and maybe a few toes, take it from me but that A Train will never be the same again!
Recorded in May last year and released on May 17 this year by Cellar Music it has got to be my piano record of the year. Lance
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