The friendly wood-paneled interior of Maybeck Recital Hall in the Berkeley hills has inspired many pianists to reach beyond their usual limits in the real world outside; after a tentative start, John Hicks latches on tightly to his muse here. He is at his most emotionally affecting in John Coltrane's quietly aching "After the Rain.""Speak Low" takes off on flights of near ecstasy, and he crashes through excitingly convoluted takeoffs on Monk's "Rhythm-A-Ning" and Bud Powell's "Oblivion." Hicks contributes a single rollicking improvisation of his own, "Blues for Maybeck Recital Hall," amidst the program of pop and jazz standards and touching newer material like Billy Childs'"Heroes." Though not a consistently inspired concert, there are several stretches of truly breathtaking piano playing here, beautifully recorded as usual. - Richard S. Ginell
Tracks
01. Blue in Green (Miles Davis/Bill Evans)
02. All of You (Cole Porter)
03. After the Rain (John Coltrane)
04. Speak Low (Kurt Weill/Ogden Nash)
05. Blues for Maybeck Recital Hall (John Hicks)
06. Heroes (Billy Childs)
07. Rhythm-A-ning (Thelonious Monk)
08. Duke Ellington's Sound of Love (Charles Mingus)
09. Oblivion (Bud Powell)
10. Contemplation (Wayne Shorter)
11. Straighten Up and Fly Right (Nat Cole/Irvin Mills)
JOHN HICKS piano
Recorded live at Maybeck Recital Hall 1991
Concord Jazz - CCD-4442