Pal Joey by Kenny Drew

Cast/Singer
Kenny Drew, Wilbur Ware, Philly Joe Jones
Songs
  • Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
  • Do It the Hard Way
  • I Didn't Know What Time It Was Lyrics
  • Happy Hunting Horn
  • I Could Write a Book Lyrics
  • What Is a Man?
  • My Funny Valentine
  • Lady Is a Tramp
Label: Orig. Jazz Classics
Cd Re-issue date: February 12, 1996




Broadway musicals provided considerable--and often top-quality--material for the improvisers of the late 1950s. Few scores were better than Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey, and few "jazz impressions" have proven to be more lasting than those of Kenny Drew, Wilbur Ware, and Philly Joe Jones. Drew (1928-1993) was one of the brightest young pianists in New York, whose impressive recording credits alone included, in addition to his own LPs, sessions with the twin towers of post-Bird tenors, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. Supported brilliantly by bassist Ware (1923-1979) and drummer Jones (1923-1985), two supreme individualists on their respective instruments, the pianist's bebop inflections and inspired balladry fit "Joey" like a blocked Trilby hat.