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Dear Listener.
I guess that I’ve always been fascinated with the piano and the players who created those wonderful, swinging sounds I heard growing up. My father’s record collection included Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Claude Hopkins, Joe Sullivan, Jess Stacy, Mel Powell and on and on. I loved their playing and tried to figure out how they were doing it. We had musical parties at the house and my Dad’s brother would end up at the piano for the singing. I listened and watched and learned. In my teens my hands were big enough to play tenths and that notion opened a whole new world, particularly for my left hand. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with many terrific two-handed pianists and have been very fortunate for most of my adult life to earn my living playing the music I love. These solos were recorded May, 1999 on a beautiful Yamaha C7 grand at my friend Steve Wight’s place in Pasadena, California. They sure reflect the energy one develops working five days a week in a major theme park. Those were the days, indeed. I hope you enjoy these re-discovered tracks as much as I enjoyed laying them down. One can never know all there is to know about that beast called a piano, but rest assured that kid on the cover is still listening and watching and learning. Cheers! Ray. |
Track listing:
1 You Took Advantage of Me 2 New Orleans 3 You Meet the Nicest People 4 Blue Skies 5 Alligator Crawl 6 All of Me 7 Sweet Lorraine 8 Oriental Medley China Boy Chinatown Japanese Sandman Nagasaki 9 Ray's Solitary Blues 10 My Melancholy Baby 11 The Song Is Ended 12 Can't We Be Friends? 13 WPA Stomp |
