"Celebrating the Music of Matt Dennis"
Jan Lundgren, piano/ Tom Warrington, bass/ Joe La Barbera, drums
Fresh Sound Records
Recorded at Entourage Studios, Hollywood, May 10-11, 2003
“This album is absolutely tops. Jan´s feeling for jazz is the best I
have heard in many years…he positively romps! His chord interpretations
are outstanding. Matt would have been so pleased hearing the verses
performed, and simply delighted with the version of `Relax`, his first
composition. We were together for forty-nine musical years, so I knew
his likes and dislikes. He´d have been flattered and thrilled beyond
words.”
(Ginny (Mrs. Matt) Dennis)
Speak of an inventive, swinging pianist and the name is spelled
L-U-N-D-G-R-E-N. Is there a contemporary who could have pulled this off
as Jan did? “He´s fantastic!” says Keith Albright, who has tuned for
the greats over the past fifty years. My expectations for this
recording were of the highest: once again, Jan Lundgren has exceeded
them.
(Dick Bank)
I had the pleasure of meeting the legendary tenor titan Johnny
Griffin at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival some weeks before writing this
commentary. Among other things we were discussing pianists when Griff
became specific. “I´d like very much to do something with Jan Lundgren
again – maybe a ballad album. I´m so impressed by his freshness…he
really has his own way of playing. There is no end to his ideas. A
great musical future lies ahead of him, of that you can be certain.”
