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LIAISONS II - ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano · Anthony de Mare (pn) · AVIE 2695 (76:51)
ANDRES Nice is Different Than Good. BENNETT Everybody Says Don't. HOUGH Pretty Lady: Gymnopédie. BATISTE The Gun Song/The Ballad of Booth. HEARNE Another National Anthem. TAO Move On. CERRONE Kiss Me. SCHUBRING Rhapsody in Red. MONK Dialogue. PRESTINI Always. BEAL Not a Day Goes By. RICHTER Anyone Can Whistle. PUTS Being Alive. DE MARE All Things Bright and Beautiful
As its title suggests, this is a followup to an earlier release, one that I reviewed back in 2016 (Fanfare 39:3). Liaisons was an ECM release; this time Avie Records is hosting Anthony de Mare's project. It was to have premiered in 2020, to celebrate Stephen Sondheim's 90th birthday, but of course the pandemic got in the way. Then, when the concerts were rescheduled, a sprained ankle prevented Sondheim from attending, and then he died late in 2021. The recordings presented here date from 2023.
ECM's...