David Hazeltine – Modern Standards – (David Hazeltine, piano; David Williams, bass; Joe Farnsworth, drums) – Sharp Nine

by | Jan 3, 2006 | Jazz CD Reviews | 0 comments

David Hazeltine – Modern Standards – (David Hazeltine, piano; David Williams, bass; Joe Farnsworth, drums) Sharp Nine CD#1032-2, 58:03 ****:

Modern Standards, David Hazeltine’s 2005 Sharp Nine release, could have been a career blunder as Hazeltine performs songs largely from the 60s and 70s, certainly not decades known for producing songs from the Great American Songbook, as did the 1920s thru the 1950s. Hazeltine mixes semi-standards such as Cy Coleman’s Witchcraft, Anthony Newley’s Who Can I Turn To, Henry Mancini’s Moment to Moment, and Leonard Bernstein’s Somewhere together with such seemingly odd choices as the Isley Bros. For the Love of You and the Bee Gee’s How Deep is Your Love. The Beatles’  Yesterday, however, is not such an odd choice for a future standard.

Remarkably though, Hazeltine makes all these disparate songs swing effortlessly, and his trio mates, Williams and Farnsworth’s interplay makes this session a comfortable, yet challenging listen. The only other pianist that comes to mind that could take on this challenge and make it work, jazzwise, would be Bill Charlap. Hazeltine more than holds his own on Modern Standards here. Well done!

Tracks: Witchcraft, A House is Not a Home, Yesterday, Who Can I Turn To, How Deep is Your Love, Moment to Moment, A Time for Love, Somewhere, For the Love of You

– Jeff Krow
 

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