Search - Ellington, Finck, Previn :: We Got It Good & That Ain't Bad: an Ellington Songbook

As a pianist equally at home in European and American classical styles, Andre Previn, along with bassist David Finck, pays tribute to Duke Ellington here in truly Ellingtonian manner. In the late 1930s, Ellington recorded some sides with the young bass master Jimmy Blanton. While Previn's piano style owes more to Chopin and Erroll Garner, and Finck's basstones are rooted in the tradition of Ray Brown and Scott La Faro, both players render these sterling selections from the Ellington canon in the same Duke-Blanton fashion. With his dark chord clusters, Previn stays true to the Ducal piano sound from the Billy Strayhorn classics like "Take the A Train," the Afro-Eurasian "Isfahan," and the harmonically intoxicating "Chelsea Bridge." Previn displays his solo chops on the swinging and soulful renditions of Ellington's title track, and the hymnal "Come Sunday." Of course, the Ellington hits--including "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me" and "In a Mellow Tone"--are revisited, along with the great alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges's riff number, "Squatty Roo." Lesser-known compositions, like the blue-toned "Serenade to Sweden" and "I Didn't Know About You, are rendered in a reverent and melodious manner fit for a Duke. --Eugene Holley Jr.