...top-flight piano playing by a skilled and imaginative practitioner.
For his third Origin release, pianist Marius Nordal presents a solo set of 1960s and 70s mega-hits and Grammy Award-winning pop songs largely ignored by jazz players. Tunes by the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Roberta Flack, Burt Bacharach, and many others are given the pianist's unique spin, including "Strawberry Fields Forever," and "Good Vibrations." Known as a singular big band composer (two of his 70s "hits" are included here) and a dazzling technician on piano, Nordal faces a whole new set of challenges in approaching music that millions grew up listening to. His thoughtful and soulful approach adds new perspective to some time-worn favorites.
Track Listing:
1. School Days 3:35
2. Scarborough Fair 4:31
3. Eleanor Rigby 4:45
4. Aubrey 3:39
5. Good Vibrations 6:04
6. She's Leaving Home 3:32
7. Mrs. Robinson 4:50
8. Killing Me Softly 5:06
9. Strawberry Fields Forever 4:40
10. Wives and Lovers 3:49
11. Suncatchers / Oregon 5:10
Performers:
Marius Nordal - solo piano
Production Info:
Produced by Marius Nordal
Recorded by Tom Hall at M. Nordal?s,
Seattle, WA on March 14, 2005
Mixed by Tom Hall, Redmond, WA
Mastered by Rick Fisher at RFI/CD Mastering
Photography by Adam Balatoni, Giorgio Fochesato, Todd Bishop
Cover design by John Bishop
Reviews of Boomer Jazz
Oregon Jazz Society (George Fendel)
Marius Nordal is one of those virtuoso pianists who can spin you around in your chair and make you rue the day you ever started taking piano lessons. I know this to be true because I own his first two albums for Origin, and I've heard his Tatum-esque exploits on both. He has complete command of the piano, and you can't reign him in, so don't try. A ...
JazzTimes (Harvey Siders)
Solo piano is the ultimate challenge: you're all alone, excerpt for those 88 keys flashing their ivories. No other horn waiting to pick up the melodic slack, no additional rhythm guys keeping time. Yet solo piano is a mixed blessing. You assume full responsibility to call the shots: you set the metronome, fall back on rubato whenever the mood strik ...
All Music Guide (Adam Greenberg)
Onetime big-band composer Marius Nordal saw a niche unfilled in jazz -- while many contemporary performers put in time with the standards of the American Songbook (Cole Porter, Rodgers, Hart, Hammerstein, etc), there is relatively little attention given to slightly newer pieces of popular music, even those taken as standards of the form. With the p ...
Cadence (Don Lerman)
Pianist Marius Nordal provides a rare Jazz treatment of well-known popular hits from the 1960s and 1970s in this well-crafted solo piano concert. Nordal's musical interpretations are creative and lucid, while remaining faithful to melody and spirit of music from the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, Burt Bacharach, Chuck Berry, and other ...
