Like Richard Glazier's first solo Gershwin disc for Centaur, Volume 2 offers original works and transcriptions alongside Gershwin tunes arranged by others. Three "stylizations" by Stan Freeman (of Piano Playhouse fame in the early 1950s) weave Rachmaninovian lines around "But Not For Me", "Who Cares?", and "Someone To Watch Over Me". By contrast, a modern jazz vocabulary informs Chris Rutkowski's decorous treatment of "How Long Has This Been Going On". Two Gerswhin piano roll solos, transcribed by Artis Wodehouse, reveal the composer's straightforward, unfussy way of playing his own music. Glazier grasps Gershwin's hefty chords with a full, effortless tone that is beautifully captured by Joseph Patrych's production. In the main, the pianist's technique is reliable but sometimes lacking in outward panache, as borne out in the solo version of Rhapsody In Blue. Glazier's tendency to rush phrase endings, such as those in "Jazzbo Brown", throws Gershwin's syncopations slightly off kilter. Yet less demanding selections, like "Two Waltzes in C" and "Love Is Here to Stay", come off with charm and poignancy. Is a third volume in the works?

--Jed Distler