One Alone

Label: Telarc
Year: 1997
Released on LP: No
Released on CD: Yes

Tracks

1. That Old Feeling
2. I'll Never Smile Again
3. One Alone
4. You've Got Me Crying Again
5. Someone To Watch Over Me
6. Just Squeeze Me
7. Harbor Lights
8. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
9. Summer Song
10. Red Sails In The Sunset
11. Weep No More
12. Bye Bye Blues
13. Over The Rainbow

Personnel

Reviews

Concord Music Group - Copyright

Share the vision of pianist-composer Dave Brubeck on One Alone. This is his first solo piano recording since 1996’s A Dave Brubeck Christmas (CD-83410) and 1994’s Just You, Just Me (CD-83363).

Known for his trademark rhythmic complexity and extraordinary ability to improvise, Brubeck tells the story of these thirteen songs in his own special way:

“That Old Feeling” was a vehicle for vocalists from Frank Sinatra to Louis Armstrong.

Ruth Lowe’s “I'll Never Smile Again” was first made famous by the 1939 recording by Tommy Dorsey featuring Frank Sinatra.

“One Alone” is from the Oscar Hammerstein II/Sigmund Romberg operetta of 1926, “The Desert Song.”

“You've Got Me Crying” was popularized by the torch singer Ruth Etting in l933.

“Someone to Watch Over Me,” a Gershwin favorite, comes from the 1926 musical Oh Kay!

“Just Squeeze Me” was a special number for the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

“Harbor Lights” was first made popular by Rudy Vallee in 1940.

Ellington’s talented son, Mercer, wrote “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be.”

“Summer Song,” a Brubeck original, evokes the lazy torpor of a day by the pond.

“Red Sails in the Sunset,” a hit for Bing Crosby in l935, was later refurbished by Nat “King” Cole in 1951.

“Weep No More” is, according to composer Brubeck, “the oldest of my compositions, written in l945.”

“Bye, Bye Blues” was a vehicle for Cab Calloway in l941, then Les Paul and Mary Ford in l953.

Harold Arlen’s “Over the Rainbow” was a hit in 1939 for Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz.

There is a tendency in the music community to undervalue the work of jazz pioneers such as Dave Brubeck, because of their great popularity and hit songs. One Alone, Brubeck’s tenth album with Telarc, shows how expansive his creative skills really are.

This new release paves the way for a yearlong celebration in 2001, when Brubeck celebrates his 80th birthday. Major concerts and publicity events are being planned to commemorate this event.


All Music Guide – Review – copyright

Dave Brubeck rarely recorded as a solo pianist, but beginning in the late '90s, he started performing occasional solo pieces in concert and recorded two first-rate solo dates for Telarc. His third solo CD for the label is full of rich harmonies that any Brubeck fan can identify as his in seconds, including a mix of memorable but overlooked songs from the 1920s through the 1940s, plus a few choice standards and a pair of his timeless originals.

Brubeck clearly loves old ballads like "That Old Feeling" and "I'll Never Smile Again," and there are several classics that are perfect vehicles for Brubeck. "Someone to Watch Over Me" is yet another lush ballad, while his unusual chord substitutions to the very familiar "Over the Rainbow" are dazzling. He ventures into Duke Ellington's repertoire, obviously having fun with the jaunty "Just Squeeze Me" but at a slower tempo than one would expect; his percussive swinging take of "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" is just as fun but wilder.

Brubeck only features two of his own works, but they are among his best. "Weep No More" is the obscure song, appearing first as a part of his 1956 solo piano LP for Columbia, Brubeck Plays Brubeck; this poignant melody deserves to be better known than it is. "Summer Song," written as a vocal feature for Louis Armstrong in Dave & Iola Brubeck's short-lived production The Real Ambassadors, has gradually become a jazz standard. This highly recommended CD is yet another of his finest hours.

Ken Dryden

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