The one “classical” aspect to Willis Delony’s recital devoted to “classic” jazz composers has to do with the inclusion of several works that are totally notated and through-composed. Joseph Makholm’s Trois Impressions, for example, are attractive examples of “written out” jazz. They’re idiomatic, inventive, and ideal for non-improvising piano students who’d like to get the feel of post-bop jazz styles under their budding fingers. Dave Brubeck’s four-movment Traces pays subtle homage to the whimsical bitonality favored by his one-time teacher Darius Milhaud, alongside Brubeck’s own brand of down-home, affable blues. His Charleston entangles James P. Johnson’s patented left hand “drop bass” effects with further rhythmic displacements. Delony adds his own improvisatory touches to Brubeck’s Blue Rondo a la Turk and Duke Ellington’s extended suite New World A’ Comin’. Lastly, three movements from Ellington and bassist Ray Brown’s Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass provide vehicles for Delony’s own fluent jazz style, buttressed by Bill Grimes’ driving bass work. But try to hear the original Ellington/Brown collaboration on their 1972 duet effort (This One’s for Blanton, originally on Pablo and available in Fantasy’s Original Jazz Classics series). Ellington’s penetrating tone and daring use of registers almost sounds avant-garde compared to Delony’s pleasant yet more conventional ideas. Very fine recorded sound.
