COMPACT DISC REVIEW

By

Jack Rummel

Sorgenfri: Concert Recording

Morten Gunnar Larsen, piano

Herman Records HJCD 1046

Old Mortality / Paragon Rag / Blind Boone’s Rag Medley No. 1 / Blind Boone’s Rag Medley No. 2 / Cottontail Rag / The Perfect Sportinghouse Rag / Dead Man Blues / Burgundy Street / Franklin Avenue / La Donna / Snowy Morning Blues / Dictys on Seventh Avenue / Je ne t’aime pas / Gymnoraggy / Waltz in C#minor / Anitra: Stans! / How Long Blues.

     Released in 2016, this live recording by Morten Gunnar Larsen was made at a church outside of Copenhagen, Denmark named Sorgenfri in 2012.  The famed Norwegian pianist proved that he is a master of many genres as he performed several types of ragtime plus blues, stride and a European cabaret number to an enthusiastic audience.  Live recordings can be iffy, but this one was done right.

     Opening slowly and tastefully with Max Morath’s Old Mortality, Larsen then launches a spirited rendition of Scott Joplin’s Paragon Rag.  This is followed by two Blind Boone folk rags, Medley No .1 and Medley No. 2.  The first, a somewhat primitive work, is performed mostly as written; with the second, however, he succumbs to the unfortunate temptation of making it an all-out show-stopper.  The ragtime segment of the concert ends with a stately version of one of Joseph Lamb’s masterworks, Cottontail Rag, and Jelly Roll Morten’s flashy Perfect Rag.

     Larsen uses two well-known blues numbers as bookends to lend focus to three compositions by his good friend, David Thomas Roberts.  The first bookend, Morton’s Dead Man Blues, consists of endlessly fascinating variations on a typical 12-bar theme, while the second, James P. Johnson’s Snowy Morning Blues, is a lush 16-bar opus with occasional “blue” notes.  The Roberts works defy pigeonholing.  Burgundy Street and Franklin Avenue are both from his monumental 15-section New Orleans Streets suite, and Larsen may be the only performer besides the composer who can do them justice, having lived in N.O. himself.  La Donna, a commissioned work, fits the “Terra Verde” mold and is a beautiful score for an honored lady.

     Eubie Blake, a favorite of Larsen, is recognized through his bouncy Dictys on Seventh Avenue, a happy contrast to the darkly brutal Je ne t’aime pas (How long still?) by Kurt Weill, a searing commentary on Hitler’s pre-war Germany.  Glenn Jenks’ Gymnoraggy, a syncopated play on Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie, is slow and haunting, a perfect foil for the next two numbers, Chopin’s Waltz and Grieg’s Anitra’s Dance, which he turns into super-stride barn-burners à la Donald Lambert to close the concert.  Bringing us back to reality, he chooses Leroy Carr’s sparse How Long Blues as his encore.

     As we’ve come to expect from Morten Gunnar Larsen, everything about this CD – the sound, the dynamics, the variety, the pianistic mastery, the liner notes and the packaging – is first rate.  The man is indeed at the top of the heap!

     Available from Morten Larsen at his public appearances.  A search of the internet did not turn it up; however, many of his CDs are available through Amazon.com and I expect this one will soon be, too.  Keep checking, it’ll be worth the wait.