Seventeen Pieces (2004)

About this title: Through the latter half of the 20th century, an enduring cult figure in modern jazz was the Boston-based composer, academic, and pianist Ran Blake. In addition to his duties as the Chair of Contemporary Improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music, Blake has recorded sporadically, usually in solo or duo settings, creating a small but knotty category of near-abstract originals and quirky deconstructions of jazz standards. This is worth mentioning, because on first listen (if not second or third), the first solo album by bandleader/pianist Pandelis Karayorgis sounds startlingly like ... read more

Tracks:

1. In the Cracks of Four [Karayorgis]
2. Straight Blues [Karayorgis]
3. Ugly Beauty [Monk]
4. Criss Cross [Monk]
5. Baby [Tristano]
6. Background Music [Marsh]
7. Blood Ballad [Karayorgis]
8. Disambiguation [Karayorgis]
9. Home [Karayorgis]
10. Super Bronze [Ra]
11. Centennial [Karayorgis]
12. Gazzelloni [Dolphy]
13. Prelude to a Kiss [Ellington]
14. Fink Sink Tink [Karayorgis]
15. I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You [Young]
16. Just You, Just Me [Greer/Klages]
17. Summer [Karayorgis]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.