Search - Roland Hanna :: Everything I Love

Not everything I love

jive rhapsodist | NYC, NY United States | 01/03/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes I depress myself: isn't working hard and becoming a truly an excellent musician enough? It should be, I think. And yet, I don't really believe it. Witness this disc. It has all the good things you could ever want: nice repertoire, beautiful voicings, beautiful sound...it's not mediocre. But here's what bugs me: something like getting the minimum daily requirement of Jazz Values - sharp 9th chords, blue notes, bitonal coloration - a certain amount of swing, but not more - nothing demonic, nothing to disturb. He's really at home at the piano, Mr. Hanna. I envy that, up to a point. But when there's plenty to like, but nothing to love (or hate, for that matter), life just seems a little too grey. Don't get me wrong; his playing's not monochromatic - not at all. Plenty of color. And plenty of rubato, like on most solo piano discs. But what does so much out - of - tempo Jazz playing signify? Whatever it is, in this and so many other cases it leads us down a blind alley, in search of something so much deeper than what we actually get. We might believe we're getting something profound, but we're actually just getting something pretty.



3 1/2 stars"