It is certainly not an understatement to say that George Gershwin (1898-1937) accomplished a great deal during his 38 years. Ranging from popular songs to classical works, film scores, and music for theater productions, Gershwin composed dozens of pieces that are played on a daily basis nearly 90 years after his premature death. And in “I Got Rhythm” and “Lady Be Good,” he introduced chord changes that have been utilized by others in hundreds of “originals.” One can only speculate about the many additional classics that he would have written had he lived another 30 years.
The British jazz pianist Gabriel Latchin recently released his fifth albums as a leader. The Man I Love finds him interpreting ten familiar Gershwin songs in a trio with bassist Jeremy Brown and drummer Joe Farnsworth. It is fair to say that Latchin’s playing is at the intersection of swing, mainstream, and bebop.
While each of the songs on this set has been recorded a countless number of times, none of these performances sound tired, loaded down with clichés, or too overly predictable. Among its highlights are “Summertime” with its allusion to classical themes, a swinging “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” the bossa nova feel given “’S Wonderful,” and the cooking versions of “They All Laughed” and “Love Walked In.” Bassist Brown and drummer Farnsworth have their spots but Gabriel Latchin is the dominant voice throughout and he never seems to run out of fresh ideas while always keeping Gershwin’s rich melodies in mind.
Gabriel Latchin • The Man I Love
Alys Jazz AJ 1505
www.gabriellatchin.com
Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.
Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.
