Richie Beirach at Maybeck
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| Richie Beirach at Maybeck | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Live album by | |
| Recorded | January 5, 1992 |
| Venue | Maybeck Recital Hall, Berkeley, California |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Label | Concord |
Richie Beirach at Maybeck: Maybeck Recital Hall Series Volume Nineteen is an album of solo performances by jazz pianist Richie Beirach.
The album was recorded at the Maybeck Recital Hall in Berkeley, California[1] on January 5, 1992.[2] Most of the tracks are standards;[3] the final one, "Elm", is the only original, and comes from Beirach's 1979 album Elm.[2] The format "allows Beirach to exploit his romantic credentials with only a nominal interest in the usual bop formulas, and he throws in a few startling unorthodox glissandos here and there to shake everyone up. Very often, he works compellingly with repetitions in the left hand".[3]
Release and reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [4] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide |  [5] |
| The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz | [6] |
The AllMusic reviewer described it as "A most absorbing recital, cleanly recorded."[3] The Penguin Guide to Jazz commented that his playing is less abstract than on other recordings, and that the standards are perhaps performed too elaborately.[4] Pianist Liam Noble described Beirach's performance of "'Round Midnight": beginning "with some quiet colours, he quickly glissandos into expressionistic contrasts of texture: it feels very spontaneous, as if he's embellishing a classic fairytale with every device he can find, making it up as he goes along. The solo section steams along at a double tempo, but it's brought to a sudden halt with a return to softer textures".[7]
