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| Ted Rosenthal Trio: High Standards-TMR Music |
New York based Ted Rosenthal is a lyrical pianist
whose work is often admired for his facile skill, invention, and
conversationalist qualities. The man has the rare ability
to elegantly transform the jazz canon into a storytelling experience, and I compare his style to
the great Tommy Flanagan, whose playing comes to mind as an influence.
Rosenthal studied classical piano and received his bachelor’s
and master’s degrees from the Manhattan School of Music in performance.
Rosenthal’s love of jazz never left his soul. He studied with pianists
Jaki Byard and Lennie Tristano, besides playing with such luminaries as Gerry
Mulligan, Phil Woods and Bill Brookmeyer amongst others.
I first got to hear Rosenthal with his working trio of Noriko
Ueda on bass and Tim Horner on drums, in a small, unmemorable hideaway in
Mamaroneck, NY sometime back in the nineteen-nineties. Or was it the early two-thousands?
No matter, at the time I was impressed by just how effervescent, joyful and elegant this
pianist's performance was. Time together had honed the trio to develop an uncanny
sixth sense for where Rosenthal’s fertile mind might lead and the results were top notch.
Besides his trio, solo and session work, Rosenthal has spent
many of his subsequent years educating the next pianistic generation as a
faculty member at his alma mater, The Manhattan School of Music, at Julliard,
and at The New School jazz programs.
His latest album, High Standards, released in
March of this year, is a thoroughly enjoyable, just under sixty-five-minute, nine-selection recording of some memorable standards by such composers as Bernstein/Sondheim,
Carmichael/Mercer, and Van Heusen/Burke to name a few.
Rosenthal opens with Leonard Bernstein's “Jet Song,” from the show
West Side Story. Rosenthal is joined by the bassist Martin Wind
and his long-time drummer Tim Horner. The trio offers a playful jaunt through
this energized music that was linked to a splendid dance number in the musical.
Rosenthal dances on his keyboard, Wind punctuates the bravado sentiment and
provides some arco poignancy, and Horner cadences the steps on his trap set to
the point that you can see the gang members dance in your mind's eye.
Carmichael’s “Skylark” has been a favorite of improvisers
for over eighty years. Rosenthal’s piano intro is a miniature masterful melodic statement
that radiates with splendor before the trio joins with an expansive, soft
swing. Wind offers a plucky bass solo as Horner deftly adds complimentary brush
work. Rosenthal’s piano, never predictable, finds multiple ways to explore the
melody by using dynamics and rhythmic changes.
“Old Devil Moon” is a Burton Lane composition that finds
Rosenthal with his long-time bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Quincy Davis. The
three use a staccato rhythmic approach here that features some impressive bass pizzicato
work in synch with some syncopated trap work, along with piano accents. Rosenthal can swing
with the best of them, or he can provide stunning ascending and descending
lines that flow from his keyboard like warm butter on hot pancakes. The music is
energized and joyful. There are some creative exchanges between Ueda’s bass and
Rosenthal’s piano, a treat that reveals just how well these two bandmates know
each other.
The music continues with “Everything That Happens to Me,”
originally played by Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra and sung by Frank Sinatra. The
song also found versions popularized by voices like Billie Holiday and Chet
Baker. Rosenthal expresses the thematic emotions of despair, loneliness, and the resolve of being on the wrong side of fate, with his own sensitive pianistic interpretation
of this Matt Dennis composition. A warm
pizzicato solo by Wind is another feature.
Johnny Van Heusen’s “It Could Happen to You” offers hope, surprise,
and romantic optimism in contrast to the previous composition. Rosenthal cleverly changes the mood and treats
this one with a more upbeat swing. Whatever the mood of the composition evokes,
Rosenthal has the tools to explore these emotions. If the pianist feels joy in
the music, he transmits that joy through to the listener using embellishment,
tone and rhythmic variation. As a listener, the essence of the music is told to
you aurally, but it is almost like the story is being conveyed visually. Erroll
Garner was a master at this and so is Rosenthal.
The remainder of the album includes “To Life.” Marvin Hamlisch’s “One,” “Lover Man” made famous by Billie Holiday and Tom McIntosh’s “The Cup Bearer.”
The two trios were recorded
on separate dates in July and August of 2024 and each offer their own special
moments as they interact with the pianist. Ted Rosenthal’s playing has gotten
even better over the years. His splendid command of the material and the bottomless
depth of the man’s creative well from which he draws makes High Standards
a delightful album that offers the listener hours of enjoyment.