{"id":166,"date":"2021-03-30T18:26:11","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T18:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/?page_id=166"},"modified":"2021-10-05T14:50:50","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T14:50:50","slug":"1960-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/1960-2\/","title":{"rendered":"1960"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Ambience and aspiration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Like Love<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Columbia, 1960)&nbsp;(recorded early 1960?)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previn\u2019s pop debut for Columbia&nbsp;(\u201chis piano and orchestra,\u201d as the credit reads,&nbsp;for the first time)&nbsp;shows&nbsp;that he learned some lessons from the albums with David Rose. The string arrangements are rhythmically simpler than Rose\u2019s, instead either slipping in with special effects or hanging in the background with Nelson Riddle-style chorales. That lets the piano provide most of the rhythmic interest, just unpredictable&nbsp;enough\u2014so the theory seems to go\u2014to keep the strings from putting too much Vaseline on the lens.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The title track is by&nbsp;far the most swinging thing: a very close cousin to \u201cLike Young,\u201d to be sure (and heavily promoted by Columbia as a single), but with a kind of winsome swagger, if that makes any sense. The other Previn-Langdon number, \u201cLooking for Love,\u201d as well as \u201cNothing to Do with Love,\u201d a collaboration between Langdon and Russ Freeman, are&nbsp;the most unadulterated easy listening on the record. The rest hovers somewhere in between, but mostly erring on the side of of smooth and unruffled. An exception is a&nbsp;thesis-antithesis \u201cI Wish I Were in Love Again,\u201d the silk-stocking strings in a tug-of-war&nbsp;with&nbsp;Previn\u2019s dry, jumpy piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Andre Previn His Piano And Orchestra - Like Love  GMB\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SA4xa76do3k?start=377&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Incidentally, the photo on the back cover&nbsp;of&nbsp;<em>Like Love&nbsp;<\/em>reveals Previn as a man\u2026&nbsp;who has a favorite sweater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"343\" height=\"282\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-Like-Love-back-cover-photo.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-Like-Love-back-cover-photo.jpg 343w, https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-Like-Love-back-cover-photo-300x247.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 343px) 85vw, 343px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"343\" height=\"342\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-plays-Jerome-Kern-cover.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-plays-Jerome-Kern-cover.jpg 343w, https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-plays-Jerome-Kern-cover-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-plays-Jerome-Kern-cover-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 343px) 85vw, 343px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"343\" height=\"331\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-Subterraneans-sweater.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-Subterraneans-sweater.jpg 343w, https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-Subterraneans-sweater-300x290.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 343px) 85vw, 343px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(That last photo is a still from&nbsp;<em>The Subterraneans.<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andr\u00e9 Previn and His Trio:&nbsp;<em><strong>Like Previn!<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Contemporary, 1960)&nbsp;(recorded February, March 1960)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previn\u2019s last trio record for Contemporary is also, surprisingly, his first jazz album consisting only of original&nbsp;tunes. Better late than never. It\u2019s almost as if, when playing standards, Previn\u2019s approach is to show what he can do with them, and the transformations and virtuosity become part of the point; but, with his own music, he\u2019s already shown what he can do, and the improvised explorations are more relaxed&nbsp;(and adventurous). It\u2019s not so much that the music is that much more interesting&nbsp;(though&nbsp;many&nbsp;numbers, especially those on the slower side, are more than deserving of revival),&nbsp;it\u2019s that Previn performs them with a sense of space and collaboration that\u2019s sometimes missing from his other albums.&nbsp;One question is: where might it have come from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The album that had replaced&nbsp;<em>My Fair Lady<\/em>&nbsp;as the one&nbsp;best-selling&nbsp;jazz album&nbsp;that&nbsp;everybody seemed to have was&nbsp;<em>But Not For Me: Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing<\/em>, recorded in January of 1958.&nbsp;It was Jamal\u2019s breakthrough: even two years later, when&nbsp;<em>Like Previn!&nbsp;w<\/em>as released, it&nbsp;briefly shared a space in&nbsp;<em>Billboard<\/em>\u2019stop ten jazz albums with no fewer than three of Jamal\u2019s, with&nbsp;<em>But Not For Me&nbsp;<\/em>at the fore. Jamal\u2019s popularity had tripped the same critical suspicion that was beginning to surround Previn; Martin Williams, in&nbsp;<em>Downbeat<\/em>, called <em>But Not For Me<\/em> \u201ccocktail piano.\u201d&nbsp;The censure at least was etymologically correct: the album<em> <\/em>was a distillation of Jamal\u2019s years of experimentation with openness and repetition.&nbsp;Jamal\u2019s sense of space and arrangement was, in comparison with many of his contemporaries, extreme, even avant-garde, but cosseted in the attentive devotion to standards and their construction that Previn extolled. Jamal also preached the gospel of the riff, to which Previn was already an adherent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I suspect that those aspects of Jamal\u2019s playing that made their way into Previn\u2019s came through the intermediary of Red Garland, who had absorbed them from Miles, who revered Jamal.&nbsp;(Garland&#8217;s stylization and summation of Jamal&#8217;s approach, with its solid grounding in the nuts and bolts of popular song, could have been explicitly designed to appeal to Previn.) I also wouldn\u2019t be surprised if Previn had been listening to&nbsp;more by-way-of-Miles spatial experimentation via&nbsp;Bill Evans\u2019 then-new trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian.&nbsp;Previn and Evans were always very similar players\u2014absolute masters of touch and dynamics and voicing\u2014with rather different aims. But the give and take among the trio here, Mitchell a legitimate co-star in melodic and harmonic exposition, Capp more assertive and frisky than he\u2019s been with Previn in the past, bears some&nbsp;passing&nbsp;resemblance to the dynamic in the Evans-LaFaro-Motian outfit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previn\u2019s novel idea is to amplify that dynamic by&nbsp;making his usual proofs into postulates:&nbsp;the chord substitutions and stylistic remodeling that are&nbsp;often&nbsp;the goal of Previn\u2019s playing are built into the tunes from the get-go,&nbsp;clearing the way for new improvisatory paths.&nbsp;Previn\u2019s up-tempo originals overlay variations on blues progressions\u2014chromaticism and polytonality on \u201cTricycle,\u201d unexpected phrase lengths on \u201cI\u2019m Mina Mood\u201d and \u201cThree\u2019s Company,\u201d the latter dividing the material among the three players into a vaguely Brahmsian hemiola.&nbsp;Again, it\u2019s indicative of Previn&#8217;s lifelong, outside-looking-in relationship with the blues that he feels most comfortable with that tradition when he\u2019s regarding it from a somewhat self-consciously idiosyncratic vantage. But, taken on their own terms, the tracks provide opportunities for some welcome soloing surprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s the ballads that are the real finds. I\u2019m more than a little surprised that \u201cSad Eyes,\u201d for example, has yet to find a second life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sad Eyes\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ztn4lsu-XvI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As with&nbsp;<em>King Size!<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>Like Previn!<\/em>&nbsp;at times seems to point down a road that, for whatever reason, Previn might have traveled but didn\u2019t.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Andr\u00e9 Previn and His Trio Play Songs from Lerner &amp; Loewe\u2019s Camelot<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Columbia, 1960)&nbsp;(recorded&nbsp;spring&nbsp;1960?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you believe the liner notes, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/lp_play-music-from-lerner-loewes-camelot_the-andr-previn-trio\/\">Previn\u2019s first Broadway-show album&nbsp;for Columbia<\/a> was recorded in four hours. I kind of believe it. It\u2019s an anthology of Previn\u2019s arranging tricks surrounding some straight-ahead soloing, backed by Mitchell and Capp.&nbsp;The etude-like approach of Previn\u2019s solo albums turns up right from the beginning, with an almost bureaucratically polyrhythmic ostinato thumping through \u201cI Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight\u201d before the trio settles into some up-tempo blowing. It\u2019s far from the only place you&nbsp;can hear echoes of other Previn tracks\u2014\u201cWhat Do the Simple Folks Do\u201d sounds a bit like his solo version of \u201cLong Ago and Far Away,\u201d \u201cThe Lusty Month of May\u201d is reminiscent of \u201c\u00c0 Toujours\u201d from the&nbsp;<em>Gigi<\/em>&nbsp;album, and so forth.&nbsp;At times, one can feel the whole single-show-jazz-album&nbsp;format playing itself out in real time, but the good bits are still very good.&nbsp;\u201cIf Ever I Would Leave You\u201d is the ballad highlight, with Previn\u2019s playing showing an unexpectedly tart sense of harmony and touch.&nbsp;And the closer, a long, easygoing workout on \u201cThe Simple Joys of Maidenhood\u201d (rather in the vein of \u201cShow Me\u201d from the&nbsp;<em>My Fair Lady<\/em>&nbsp;album) is a real showcase for Previn and Mitchell, with both in a rascally, resourceful mood&nbsp;that plays as a more razzle-dazzle version of&nbsp;<em>Like Previn<\/em>\u2019s sportif vibe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Andr\u00e9 Previn Plays Songs by Harold Arlen<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Contemporary, 1961) (recorded May 1960)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For his last solo album on Contemporary, Previn turned to a songwriter with whom he was especially temperamentally aligned.\u00a0Like Arlen, Previn prized conscientious, elegant craft; like Arlen, Previn was inspired by and attentive to literate and clever lyrics; like Arlen, Previn was earnest and well-versed in jazz, but often approached it\u00a0(the blues, in particular) from a somewhat aristocratic, intellectual vantage.\u00a0Maybe that\u2019s why the transformations of the songs here are so thoroughgoing and confident\u2014Previn has absolutely no qualms about getting inside\u00a0the\u00a0melodies and\u00a0harmonies and voiding the warranty, as it were. \u201cThat Old Black Magic\u201d is kaleidoscopically polytonal, jumping from key to key and\u00a0idea\u00a0to\u00a0idea\u00a0in an almost quantum-physical way. \u201cCome Rain or Come Shine\u201d gets fitted around a riff that formalizes the blues to the point that the distance between a flatted third and its natural counterpart feels enormous.\u00a0In \u201cOver the Rainbow,\u201d Previn seems to be experimenting with just how little of the melody he can play while still convincing your ear that it\u2019s there.\u00a0For \u201cStormy Weather,\u201d he inverts the major-minor implications of the blues scale into some breathtaking dissonances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Stormy Weather\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/R7w7myqw-ak?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That almost all this happens at a mellow tempo (only \u201cBlack Magic\u201d and \u201cMy Shining Hour\u201d take a more sprightly pace) somehow makes it sound more audacious. There\u2019s also very little in the way of conventional improvisation; Previn instead creates the impression of re-inventing progressions and structure as he goes. I could see where one\u2019s reaction to this album might hinge on one\u2019s tolerance for relentless cleverness. Me? I think it\u2019s one of the best things he ever did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Also: is that\u2026 the sweater?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-Harold-Arlen-cover.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-170\" width=\"440\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-Harold-Arlen-cover.jpg 587w, https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Previn-Harold-Arlen-cover-294x300.jpg 294w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 440px) 85vw, 440px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think that\u2019s the sweater.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andr\u00e9 Previn and His Trio:&nbsp;<em><strong>Give My Regards to Broadway<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Columbia, 1960) (recorded May 1960)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On their second outing for Columbia, the&nbsp;Previn-Mitchell-Capp&nbsp;trio turns away from the single-show format to a&nbsp;miscellany of show tunes,&nbsp;most of a then-recent vintage. It comes off as more conventional than the other Broadway albums; Previn can pick the material to fit the desired mood, eliminating the strain but also the surprise of shoehorning a possibly resistant song into a modern-jazz conception.&nbsp;(The only real revelation is how plausible\u2014and unrecognizable\u2014\u201cEverything\u2019s Coming Up Roses\u201d is as a mid-tempo ballad.) And, if on&nbsp;<em>Like Previn!<\/em>&nbsp;it felt like the trio was finally coming into its inheritance, here they\u2019re cashing in some of the interest\u2014the pleasure is not hearing the group figure out what they can do, but hearing them do what they\u2019ve figured out they can.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of the space and clarified ensemble sound remain from&nbsp;<em>Like Previn!<\/em>, and Previn\u2019s penchant for playing around with key clashes and transpositions turns up,&nbsp;if not as the dominant flavor, at least as seasoning. The songs come off as&nbsp;underlined&nbsp;rather than transfigured versions of the originals. But the trio has meshed into a tight unit. It\u2019s rather like being in a club and hearing some music in the background, but it\u2019s only when you make yourself stop and listen closely that you realize how well the musicians play together. On \u201cToo Close for Comfort,\u201d Previn&nbsp;isn\u2019t&nbsp;doing anything&nbsp;he&nbsp;hasn\u2019t done many, many times before, but it lands with enough satisfaction that you can see why&nbsp;he&nbsp;keeps&nbsp;doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Too Close For Comfort\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AnHTC_JVNyE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his largely complimentary liner notes, Leonard Feather nonetheless feels the need to advocate against pigeonholing Previn\u2014by listing the pigeonholes: \u201cIs this a jazz album, or a pop album, or a show tune album? One could as well argue whether it is an album or an &#8216;Lp.&#8217;\u201d (With friends like these,&nbsp;<em>&amp;c.<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Helen Humes:&nbsp;<em><strong>Songs I Like to Sing!<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Contemporary, 1961) (recorded September 1960)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Humes\u2019 second album for Contemporary is as enjoyable as her first&nbsp;even though&nbsp;it\u2019s musically more iffy. Marty Paich is the arranger and conductor this time out, alternating between a small big band and a rhythm-plus-string-quartet-plus-Ben-Webster configuration.&nbsp;Paich does his best to complement Humes, framing as much as accompanying, and the ballads are invariably lovely, but as the tempo increases, so does the shakiness: Humes likes to sing noticeably behind the beat while the players stay firmly on top of it. (A zippy version of \u201cSt. Louis Blues\u201d feels constantly on the verge of flying apart.) But this is one of those albums where it sure&nbsp;<em>seems<\/em>&nbsp;like everyone was having a good time, which counts for a lot. Again, Previn is mostly just part of the band here, but,&nbsp;reunited with Vinnegar and Manne (along with Barney Kessel), he\u2019s in sharp form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Helen Humes - Don&#039;t Worry About Me\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IP871N3BAfs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, let\u2019s be honest, if you can uncork a blues riff with enough wit to make Helen Humes laugh (<em>ca.<\/em>&nbsp;1:10), that\u2019s a pretty good day at the office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Helen Humes Million Dollar Secret\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zPdCy-riW3g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was Previn\u2019s last recording for Contemporary, after signing an exclusive contract with Columbia in the spring of 1960. His run began navigating Lyle \u201cSpud\u201d Murphy\u2019s 12-tone experiments and ended playing&nbsp;well-worn&nbsp;standards&nbsp;with strings&nbsp;for Helen Humes. As tempting as it is to read something into that,&nbsp;I think I\u2019ll just chalk it up to coincidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Thinking of You<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Columbia, 1961)&nbsp;(recorded November 1960)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHis piano and orchestra\u201d return for an epistolatory collection of songs: \u201cWhen Will I Hear From You,\u201d \u201cP.S. I Love You,\u201d \u201cYours Sincerely,\u201d and so on. But compared with&nbsp;<em>Like Love<\/em>, Previn is determined to push the jazz envelope:&nbsp;take away the strings\u2014and add Mitchell and Capp, or Manne\u2014and this could almost be another trio album. (The bassist and drummer on this recording&nbsp;are uncredited.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gold standard for this sort of thing, of course, was and is&nbsp;<em>Charlie Parker with Strings.<\/em>&nbsp;But, really, Previn\u2019s model is not&nbsp;Parker, but another favorite: Oscar Peterson\u2019s&nbsp;<em>In a Romantic Mood<\/em>, recorded in 1955, with a string-forward orchestra arranged and conducted by Russ Garcia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Oscar Peterson Quartet with Strings - Stars Fell on Alabama\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2Ya8z7qwnQw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s&nbsp;worthwhile to&nbsp;note&nbsp;how Previn&nbsp;and Peterson\u2019s records&nbsp;do and don\u2019t echo&nbsp;Parker\u2019s&nbsp;exemplar. The string&nbsp;<em>sound<\/em>&nbsp;is similar\u2014the harmonies are a little more&nbsp;<em>au courant<\/em>, but the textures are in line. But&nbsp;both pianists&nbsp;are&nbsp;more likely to&nbsp;keep the strings offstage while they&nbsp;solo, letting&nbsp;their&nbsp;left hands&nbsp;do what Jimmy Carroll and Joe Lipman\u2019s arrangements did for Parker. And,&nbsp;in Peterson and Previn\u2019s albums, the string section is not there to swing:&nbsp;here and on&nbsp;<em>Like Love,<\/em>&nbsp;Previn keeps the rhythm to himself and the&nbsp;rest of the&nbsp;trio. (On \u201cP.S. I Love You,\u201d Previn plays swinging&nbsp;phrases, then&nbsp;the strings&nbsp;play straight, emphasizing the contrast.)&nbsp;Another crucial difference that also parallels Peterson\u2019s album:&nbsp;Parker maintained his usual harmonic language, slipping chromaticism and implied passing harmonies into the cracks of the arrangements, but, while Previn\u2019s touch and phrasing are often undiluted hard-bop, he once again sands down his harmonies to match the orchestra.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the end of the 60s, Previn\u2019s efforts in the easy-listening vein will more closely align with other examples on the racks, particularly as he cedes the arranging duties to others. But on&nbsp;<em>Thinking of You<\/em>&nbsp;(along with&nbsp;<em>A Touch of Elegance<\/em>, below), Previn&nbsp;is still thinking in terms of&nbsp;translating his jazz playing to an orchestral setting, as opposed to impersonating the pop-piano-and-orchestra style.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;I Remember You&quot;  Andre Previn\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fnarXj_QCfc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The one Previn original, the moody, modal-bluesy \u201cLost Letter,\u201d would not have been out of place on&nbsp;<em>Like Previn!<\/em>, and&nbsp;even&nbsp;the one bit of pop sacrilege, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=40udXoK721A\">tango version of \u201cDo Nothing Till You Hear from Me,\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;is&nbsp;broken up&nbsp;with some&nbsp;solid&nbsp;solos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Various artists:&nbsp;<em><strong>Who\u2019s Who in the Swinging Sixties<\/strong><\/em><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>(Columbia, 1962) (recorded November 1960)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For this compilation of various Columbia jazz stars\u2014Brubeck, Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Miles\u2014Previn contributed a solo version of Errol Garner\u2019s indelible \u201cMisty,\u201d&nbsp;reworked in a style familiar from Previn\u2019s solo piano albums, but notable for a few passing angularities that are, maybe, the closest thing to a Thelonious Monk influence that ever turned up in a Previn performance. Previn, as we shall see,&nbsp;would say that he&nbsp;admired Monk\u2019s compositions&nbsp;far more than&nbsp;Monk\u2019s playing,&nbsp;but&nbsp;perhaps an iota of the sound came in secondhand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Andre Previn And Frankie Carle: Deep Purple, Misty, Love Is Here To Stay, Satin Doll, Laura\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OfrJwD_5eaA?start=181&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/1959-2\/\">\u2190 <em>Previous: 1959<\/em><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/1961-62\/\"><em>Next: 1961-62 <\/em>\u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ambience and aspiration. Like Love&nbsp;(Columbia, 1960)&nbsp;(recorded early 1960?)&nbsp; Previn\u2019s pop debut for Columbia&nbsp;(\u201chis piano and orchestra,\u201d as the credit reads,&nbsp;for the first time)&nbsp;shows&nbsp;that he learned some lessons from the albums with David Rose. The string arrangements are rhythmically simpler than Rose\u2019s, instead either slipping in with special effects or hanging in the background with Nelson &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/1960-2\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;1960&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-166","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":597,"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/166\/revisions\/597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}