The talented, if underrated bebop pianist Kenny Drew spent his last few decades living in Scandinavia after emigrating from the U.S. in 1961. This 1996 CD has previously unreleased material recorded by the Danish Broadcast Corporation featuring Drew at three different periods in time. There are four tunes apiece of Drew in duets with bassist Niels Pedersen in 1966, playing unaccompanied solos in 1978, and duets with bassist Bo Stief in 1983. All dozen numbers (seven jazz standards, a Scandinavian folk song, an obscurity and two Drew originals, including two versions of "Blues for Nils") are quite rewarding. The music is straight-ahead, often harmonically sophisticated, swinging and occasionally unpredictable. An excellent sampling of Kenny Drew's talents. - Scott Yanow
Tracks
01. Everything I Love (Cole Porter)
02. Ode To Mariann (Kenny Drew)
03. Willow Weep For Me (Ann Ronell)
04. Swingin' Till The Girls Come Home (Oscar Pettiford)
05. Yesterdays (Otto Harbach/Jerome Kern)
06. Blues For Nils (Kenny Drew)
07. A Simple Need (Etta Cameron)
08. Whisper Not (Benny Golson)
09. Blues For Nils (Kenny Drew)
10. There's No Greater Love (Isham Jones)
11. Ack Vårmeland Du Skona (Traditional)
12. Bluesology (Milt Jackson)
KENNY DREW piano
NIELS-HENNING ØRSTED PEDERSEN bass (1-4)
BO STIEF bass (9-12)
Recorded:
#1-4 Copenhagen, Denmark, 1966.
#5-8 Copenhagen, Denmark, December 15, 1978.
#9-12 Live at "Grock", Copenhagen, September 29, 1983.
All tracks recorded by the Danish Broadcast Corporation, Jazz Dept. Previously unissued.
Storyville – STCD 8274 (Denmark)