Search - Ralph Sutton :: Eye Opener

Top Class Jazz Piano

B. D. Tutt | London, UK. | 02/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ralph Sutton was a superb jazz pianist in the Harlem stride tradition, and this solo album, recorded live in 1990 in England before an appreciative Woking Jazz Society audience, is one of his finest recordings. The piano, a Steinway specially selected for the event, is in marked contrast to the ramshackle instruments that Sutton often had to wrestle with, and the recording is technically good (although the bass is ocasionally a little weak, although not top a serious extent). Musically, this CD captures Sutton in outstanding form, even on tunes he had recorded repeatedly. The Willard Robinson medley is superb, and the Waller warhorses "Honeysuckle Rose" & "Alligator Crawl" are both given lengthy readings, object lessons in swinging jazz piano. Other highlights include a bluesy "Old Fashioned Love", a swinging "June Night" and a humorous "When I Grow To Old to Dream". Ralph Sutton died in December 2001 at the age of 79, but has left a marvellous musical legacy. This CD captures him at the peak of his late period form nad is recommended without reservation."