: Gershwin: Piano Music: George Gershwin, Joan Morris, William Bolcom: Music
This is a fantastic CD! Back in the 70′s, pianist William Bolcom and his singer wife Joan Morris made a delightful series of albums on the Nonesuch label of old songs from the first half of the twentieth century – just glorious voice backed by brilliant piano. As Ira Gershwin might say – who could ask for anything more? The music is not only beautifully performed, you can hear the joy of the performance in every note. And Bolcom and Morris were never better than when doing Gershwin.
A combination of two albums, the first part of this CD is all piano. The Gershwin Songbook consists of brief (some under a minute) versions of some of his more popular songs in the way that Gershwin himself famously played them at parties. They demonstrate that Gershwin was as gifted a pianist as he was a composer. The other instrumental tracks are some of Gershwin’s solo piano pieces, including the wonderful Rialto Ripples, a rag written when he was just seventeen. For me, the pinnacle of both Gershwin’s and William Bolcom’s artistry is reached on the second of the three preludes – a classic study of a bluesy mood.
Just when you think things can’t get any better, Joan Morris arrives. She effortlessly sings and swings her way through ten of Gershwin’s best songs from the cheeky comedy of By Strauss to the smoky moodiness of Someone To Watch Over Me. Maybe I’m just an incurable old romantic, but the ballads are the best of all.
No Gershwin collection can be complete without this CD. Now if only I could find a copy of that Bolcom/Morris song about Humphrey Bogart…
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