One Alone is a 2000 studio album by pianist Dave Brubeck. It was the fifth album on which Brubeck performed unaccompanied solo piano, preceded by Brubeck Plays Brubeck (1956), Plays and Plays and... (1957), Just You, Just Me (1994) and A Dave Brubeck Christmas (1996).[2][3]

One Alone
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 22, 2000
RecordedSeptember 3, 1997–April 4, 2000
GenreJazz
Length1:02:28
LabelTelarc - CD-83510 [1]
ProducerRussell Gloyd, John Snyder
Dave Brubeck chronology
So What's New?
(1998)
One Alone
(2000)
Dave Brubeck: Live with the LSO
(2000)

Reception

edit
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz    [4]

Ken Dryden reviewed the album for AllMusic and wrote that "This highly recommended CD is yet another of his finest hours". Dryden described the "...unusual chord substitutions to the very familiar "Over the Rainbow"" as "dazzling".[3]

Reviewing the album for the Jazz Times, Larry Appelbaum wrote that "The pieces are played in either ballad or medium tempo, and all the trademark Brubeck characteristics are here: his stacking of chords with moving inner voicings on "I'll Never Smile Again," the wry and audacious polytonality of "Bye Bye Blues" and the superimposition of one meter upon another on "Harbor Lights." Few pianists today take so many risks with standard repertoire, and fewer still with such wit, elegance and taste".[5]

All About Jazz reviewed the album and wrote that "After decades of ground-breaking work, done without a road map or an agenda except for love of the music, Brubeck prevails triumphantly on "One Alone", his many bands that accessorized his music fading from the same level of prominence as Brubeck's sound but never disappearing from memory. ...Performing some of his favorite tunes from the 1930s and 1940s with their deceptively simple melodies, Brubeck not only offers a different perspective on what has been considered the ordinary, but also provides fresh evidence—as if any further evidence were needed—that his style is unmistakable and that his contributions are invaluable".[6]

Track listing

edit
  1. "That Old Feeling" (Lew Brown, Sammy Fain) – 6:51
  2. "I'll Never Smile Again" (Ruth Lowe) – 4:23
  3. "One Alone" (Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Sigmund Romberg) – 6:39
  4. "You've Got Me Crying Again" (Isham Jones, Charles Newman) – 3:59
  5. "Someone to Watch over Me" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 4:22
  6. "Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)" (Duke Ellington, Lee Gaines) – 4:35
  7. "Harbor Lights" (Hugh Williams) – 4:08
  8. "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" (Mercer Ellington, Ted Persons) – 4:21
  9. "Summer Song" (Dave Brubeck) – 5:20
  10. "Red Sails in the Sunset" (Williams, Jimmy Kennedy) – 3:58
  11. "Weep No More" (Brubeck) – 4:23
  12. "Bye Bye Blues" (Dave Bennett, Chauncey Gray, Fred Hamm, Bert Lown) – 5:36
  13. "Over the Rainbow" (Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg) – 3:53

Personnel

edit
Production
  • Anilda Carrasquillo - art direction, cover design
  • Robert Friedrich - assistant engineer
  • James Salzano - cover photo
  • John Snyder - engineer, producer
  • Michael Bishop, Jack Renner - engineer
  • Russell Gloyd - producer
  • Elaine Martone - production supervisor
  • Mark Conese, Simon James, Mark Nixdorf - technical assistance

References

edit
  1. ^ "Dave Brubeck - One Alone at Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Dave Brubeck Jazz - One Alone". davebrubeckjazz.com. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b c One Alone at AllMusic
  4. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  5. ^ "Jazz Reviews: One Alone". Jazz Times. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Dave Brubeck: One Alone". All About Jazz. Retrieved 31 March 2016.