The wonderful pianist Hod O’Brien has fans worldwide, so at intervals I get polite emails from people far from me, asking, “Michael, any chance of our getting to see the second set with Hod and Ray Drummond from Mezzrow?” By popular demand, then . . .
And here is the first set, complete with admiring and well-deserved prose.
Now, for the second. Notice Hod’s precise yet warm lyricism, and don’t ignore the beautiful spirit of Ray Drummond — what a gentle wise person and player.
RIDIN’ HIGH:
STROLLIN’:
IF I WERE A BELL:
THEME FOR ERNIE:
LULLABY OF THE LEAVES:
BLUES BY FIVE:
Hod has a new book out — a wonderful unaffected chronicle of his musical adventures — “Have Piano … Will Swing! Stories about the Jazz Life.” Here is an engaging article by David A. Maurer about Hod and the book. I’ll write more soon about the book, which I’m enjoying, but you can find a copy at Hod’s website.
May your happiness increase!