Sir Charles Thompson - The Jazz Legend (2013)

The legendary American pianist Sir Charles Thompson (b. 1918) played with virtually everyone in the jazz hall of fame, including Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, and Lester Young (who gave him the nickname "Sir"), but is now perhaps better known in Japan than in the US, as he has been living in Japan with his Japanese wife for some time. He is 94 years old (as of 2012) and is still performing and recording. We can point to his recent CD released by SSJ (Love Is Here To Stay), and now this new album from Marshmallow Records.
The album was made with a focus on songs with beautiful melodies, and combines a studio recording session (Tracks 1-8) and a live recording (9-13). Both in a trio setting with Japanese bassist and drummer, Thompson showcases a distilled art of a jazz pianist. He doesn't play fast or too many notes; he plays just what he needs to and still says a lot. Swinging and melodious!

Tracklist:

01. What's New (Haggard) (6:19)
02. Good-bye (Jenkins) (3:39)
03. Indiana (Henry) (3:50)
04. I Surrender Dear (Barris) (5:11)
05. Blue Skies (Berlin) (4:28)
06. Everything Happens to Me (Dennis) (6:16)
07. I Found a New Baby (Palmer-Williams) (4:00)
08. I'm a Fool to Want You (Sinatra-Herron-Wolf) (7:02)
09. What a Wonderful World (Douglas-Weiss) (3:33)
10. Russian Lullaby (Berlin) (4:29)
11. Stella by Starlight (Young) (5:20)
12. Dark Eyes (Horlic-Stone) (4:53)
13. Robbins' Nest (Thompson) (3:42)

Personnel:

Sir Charles Thompson (piano);
Jumbo Ono (bass);
Ichiro Sakai (bass);
Kazunori Kondo (drums).