Stretching the Standards

These 12 arrangements are intended to depart a bit from the way that the songs were first set down by Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and Richard Rodgers. In terms of harmony, the use of modulations, and the recasting of melodies with unexpected accompaniment, I've tried, with all due respect, to move their classic songs into new territory. Sometimes I've embellished the melodies themselves in the way a jazz player might throw in variations, but these are not jazz variations. To the contrary, the settings are perhaps reminiscent in manner of some of the preludes of Chopin and Debussy, and of the shorter piano pieces of Ravel. - Dick Hyman. Songs include: Hello, Young Lovers á The Last Time I Saw Paris á People Will Say We're in Love á The Song Is You á This Nearly Was Mine á The Way You Look Tonight á We Kiss in a Shadow á and more.