The credit is to the
Barbara Carroll Trio featuring
Ken Peplowski, who adds clarinet and tenor saxophone.
Carroll begins with
Irving Berlin's "Change Partners" using only the trio (which is completed by bassist
Jay Leonhart and drummer
Alvin Atkinson) and ends with
Rodgers & Hart's "Have You Met Miss Jones," both standards taken at lively tempos and featuring some vibrant playing from a leader just crossing her mid-eighties. After a thoughtful presentation of
Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time," the bulk of the set is taken up by two sections, first a lengthy medley of
Gershwin tunes including "Fascinating Rhythm," "Nice Work If You Can Get It," the title song, "My Man's Gone Now" from Porgy and Bess, and "I Got Rhythm."
Peplowski makes his first appearance on clarinet on "Fascinating Rhythm," immediately establishing a playful rapport with
Carroll, sometimes mirroring her lines and other times introducing counter-melodies.
Carroll takes to the microphone for a rhythmic recitation of some of the lyrics to "How Long Has This Been Going On?," her only vocal work on the album;
Peplowski switches to tenor to match her. He sits out "My Man's Gone Now," but returns to clarinet for "I Got Rhythm," again twinning with
Carroll spectacularly. That sets up further fireworks in the second section of the set, which consists of two
Carroll originals. The first, "Todd's Blues," finds
Peplowski playing some high, piercing notes on his clarinet and
Leonhart taking an arco solo. "Too Soon" is a lilting waltz that confirms the swing of
Carroll and
Peplowski as a musical couple. In 2010, when this show at Dizzy's Club was recorded, "this," that is,
Barbara Carroll's career at the piano, had been going on for about 80 years, and it showed no signs of stopping. ~ William Ruhlmann
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