Pianist {|George Wallington|}, who retired from jazz in 1960, returned in the mid-'80s and recorded three solo albums; he passed away in 1993. This CD, which contains eight originals (which are subtitled {|A Jazz Tone Poem|}), is not as adventurous a... Read more

Pianist {|George Wallington|}, who retired from jazz in 1960, returned in the mid-'80s and recorded three solo albums; he passed away in 1993. This CD, which contains eight originals (which are subtitled {|A Jazz Tone Poem|}), is not as adventurous as one might think. Actually a lot of the songs are based on fairly common chord changes. {|Wallington|} plays quite well (mixing in his dominant {|Bud Powell|} influence with touches of {|Teddy Wilson|}), making one regret that the important bop-based pianist took so many years off. At least his final efforts were impressive, and this CD offers some fine examples of his playing after his comeback. ~ Scott Yanow Less