1. Blues for Georgia
2. I Like Myself
3. A Second Chance
4. Like Young
5. Coco
6. Saturday
7. You're Gonna Hear from Me
8. Hi Blondie
9. Far Away Part of Town
10. The Pleasure of Your Company
11. Theme from Valley of the Dolls
12. If I Should Find You
13. Why Are We Afraid?
14. More in Love with You
15. Guiding Light
Jan Lundgren - Piano
Jacob Fischer - Guitar
Hans Backenroth - Bass
Johan Lofcrantz - Drums
Vivian Buczek - Vocals (tracks 4, 7,14,15)
We Like Previn comprises a group of Scandinavian musicians, of whom Danish pianist Jan Lundgren is the best-known, paying an 80th birthday tribute to the musical polymath, André Previn. All but one of the tracks are composed by Previn himself and a series of helpful and informative sleeve notes reminds us of his early success as a jazz pianist as well as his many contributions to film scores and musicals.
The fifteenth track is a tribute written by the CD's producer, Torgil Rosenberg, and includes a wordless vocal by singer, Vivian Buczek. All the tracks are approximately four minutes long - some would have benefited from an opportunity for the main soloists to stretch out.
Lundgren, who has worked extensively in the US, is a technically accomplished pianist with a similar versatility to our own David Newton; Fischer a fine guitarist in the mould of Herb Ellis. They both contribute excellent solos on almost every track. I particularly enjoyed Lundgren's bluesy, Ray Bryant-style piano on the familiar Like Young, the Shearing sound generated by Lundgren and Fischer on Far Away Part of Town, and the seductive Theme from Valley of the Dolls. On Saturday, Lundgren flies over the keys like Oscar Peterson in his heyday. Buczek's vocal contributions are easy on the ear and the rhythm section is efficient and unobtrusive.
This is a very pleasant CD which makes me want to hear more of the versatile Lundgren in a setting where he can really explore his material in depth.
George Stacy
CD Reviews
Volenza VMCD 101
