Alone - Ballads for Solo Piano

Andre Previn is best known as a classical conductor and film composer, but he’s also played jazz piano off and on for decades. As the title implies, Alone is a solo effort, and it features ten standards and three originals: “Darkest Before the Dawn,” “You’re Gonna Hear from Me,” and “André’s Blues.” (The last track was improvised in the studio.) It’s no surprise Previn displays great feeling for these standards: he’s probably been well acquainted with the songs for years. There aren’t many frills in these sensitively refined interpretations, and when Previn interjects a bluesy inflection or alters a harmony, the effect is subtly bracing. Every note seems to be necessary; every passing run fits in snugly within the larger framework. Like most good jazz versions of the Great American Songbook, these instrumentals are informed by the lyrics, and on his cover of the Rodgers and Hart classic, “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” you can practically hear the piano singing. Among the originals, “You’re Gonna Hear from Me,” which closes the album, is particularly moving. Alone brings great intimacy to these oldies and Previn originals.