The talented Dudley Moore takes time off from the frivolity of his various TV appearances to serve us some jazz of a most enticing quality in this, his first album under his own name. His classical background and training emerge but seldom, as in Take Your Time, yet the facile way in which he roams the keyboard suggests a lifetime in dedication to jazz in its purist sense. I detect fun-poking in his Poova Nova, a sort of bossa nova skit with echo-chamber voices off, and Sooz Blooz must surely have an undercurrent dedication to Charlie Mingus, although it develops superbly into something much riper and richer than any of the great bass player’s piano efforts I have heard.
Baubles and Indiana display affinity for Peterson, but I like the more imaginative way in which Dudley deploys his bass line, powerfully and properly backed by bassist Pete McGurk. No one mentions George on the sleeve, but he got into a title, a Bill Evans-y sounding piece with a minor theme, again showing the versatility of this most remarkable pianist. His Leaves leaves me refreshed that someone has the courage to break away from the dirge-like versions of this tune one so often hears. Chris Karan uses the tambourine to good effect throughout this piece, or is it Dudley playing it with his toes? I certainly wouldn’t put it beyond him!
The whole set is a delightful sampler of the music I have heard Dudley Moore play, and it reveals the true talent of a gifted jazzman, from whom we must hear more on record in the future.
Discography
My Blue Heaven; Lysie Does It; Poova Nova; Take Your Time; Indiana (24¾ min) – Sooz Blooz; Baubles, Bangles And Beads; Sad One For George; Autumn Leaves (24¼ min)
Dudley Moore (p); Pete McGurk (bs); Chris Karan (d). 1965.
(Decca LK 4732 32s. 2d.)
