The Don Friedman Trio - Nite Lites (2015)

Don Friedman's journey toward this collection began when he was four years old and clambered onto his parents piano bench for a bit of experimental improvisation. Soon, his first formal piano lesson put him on the road toward a lifelong commitment to the classics. Classics? you may ask, isn't he a jazz pianist? He is, indeed, one admired by virtually all of his keyboard contemporaries. The late Lou Levy, a dean of modern jazz pianists, was notably reserved in assigning praise. But Levy told critic Herb Wong, I love to listen to a pianist who practices. Players like Chick Corea and Bill Evans are examples, and Don Friedman is another who has equal strength in his fingers and you can hear it. Mix that with good taste, knowledge, experience and individual soundand you have a helluva player, and I think Don is a great player.
Lets agree on what constitutes a classic. Any dictionary definition boils down to something like, Of the first or highest class, quality or rank. By that standard, not only Mr. Friedmans tributes to Ravel and Chopin but every piece that he chose for this collection is a classic. –Doug Ramsey

Tracklist:

01. 5-5-14 (Friedman) 8:00
02. All or Nothing at All (Altman-Lawrence) 7:37
03. Nite Lites (Friedman) 8:18
04. Un-Ravel-Ed (Friedman) 7:38
05. Daahoud (Brown) 4:37
06. Chopinesque (Friedman) 7:32
07. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most (Wolf-Landesman) 7:20
08. Turn Out The Stars (Evans) 6:14
09. Requiem (Tristano) 4:45

Personnel:

Don Friedman - piano
Harvie S - bass
Klemens Marktl - drums