LARRY MCDONOUGH: Small Steps

Larry McDonough

Small Steps

© 2000 Marx Music

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Unique improvisation-based treatments of classic jazz tunes, pop songs, and originals. Reviewers have compared him to Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Ian Underwood, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, John Fahey, Herbie Hancock, Patricia Barber, and Claud

tracks

1 Crystal Silence
2 Linus And Lucy
3 Small Steps
4 Good Day Sunshine
5 Coreatown
6 Nature Boy
7 Layla
8 All Blues

notes

Solo pianist Larry McDonough takes classic songs from the jazz and pop schools, as well as interesting originals, and puts them through his own unique focus. You will recognize these tunes, but they won't sound anything like you remember them. In addition, Larry is the only pianist we know who takes bass solos on piano, often trading choruses back and forth between his right and left hands.

On Small Steps, jazz pianist Larry McDonough presents unique arrangements of jazz classics (All Blues, Crystal Silence, Nature Boy), pop classics (Layla, Linus and Lucy, Good Day Sunshine), and originals songs by producer Mark Browning Milner (Coreatown) and McDonough (Small Steps). McDonough said that he had several goals for the CD. First, he wanted to record live in the studio, without any editing, dubbing or re-recording.

Second, he wanted to display his unique style of playing solos in the bass section of the keyboard. He incorporates left- and right-handed bass solos in addition to treble solos, in each piece. McDonough says that "This frees me to construct separate and distinct solos within the same song, sometimes in sequence, sometimes trading solos back and forth between bass and treble, as in 'All Blues' and 'Small Steps'."

Third, McDonough dramatically changed the melodies and harmonies on many of the songs, basing harmonies on modal harmonies built on 4ths, which were popular in the 60s and 70s, rather than traditional jazz changes. In "Linus and Lucy", "Layla", and "Good Day Sunshine", this has led to harmonizations far from the original composers' intentions. Producer Milner describes this as "bebop-cum-impressionistic style, sort of Bill Evans meets Debussy."

Finally, McDonough quotes extensively from other composers in his solos, but often places them against harmonies quite different from the originals. This can most clearly be heard in the "Coreatown" solos, where several Chick Corea melodies appear, as well as on "Linus and Lucy" (television themes), "Layla" (George Harrison and Stevie Wonder songs), and "Small Steps" (melodies from Corea, Herbie Hancock and others). The other quotes reflect his work in BOZO allegro. McDonough decided to quote Beatles' melodies within the solos on each of the pieces. He placed a list of Beatles' tunes in front of him while recording and quoted when he felt the urge. Some are obvious, others are buried in bass solos or placed against unusual harmonies or rhythms.

McDonough's original piece, "Small Steps", was written as a response to Coltrane's "Giant Steps", based on unison and minor second progressions in the melody and harmonies. The solo section includes changes through all 12 keys, moving upward and downward chromatically, bass and treble solos, and a trading section between bass and treble.

The CD also includes the cover art work of Michael Diehl and photography of Ed Freeman. They used imaginative shots of a toy piano and a grand piano to create illusions about which is the real piano. They also used a line drawing of McDonough by Bob Brown, rather than a photo, but include a photo of McDonough performing as a child.

reviews

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  • author: CD Baby

    Bill Evans meets Debussy. Gorgeous solo piano.

  • Herbie Hancock-Bill Evan-ish
    author: Leigh Kamman, The Jazz Image, Minnesota Public Radio 91.1, St. P

    From a collection called Small Steps, [Larry McDonough] has created a lot of music. [On Linus and Lucy,] certainly what [he] designed ... is almost another composition in a way. ... The artistry of Larry McDonough [includes] a lovely interpretation of Good Day Sunshine. What a thrill to catch up with [him] and his art. It certainly is just a bright excursion to sit in and listen to [his] performances. Wonderful, Herbie Hancock-Bill Evan-ish

  • Herbie Hancock-Bill Evan-ish
    author: Leigh Kamman, The Jazz Image, Minnesota Public Radio 91.1, St. P

    From a collection called Small Steps, [Larry McDonough] has created a lot of music. [On Linus and Lucy,] certainly what [he] designed ... is almost another composition in a way. ... The artistry of Larry McDonough [includes] a lovely interpretation of Good Day Sunshine. What a thrill to catch up with [him] and his art. It certainly is just a bright excursion to sit in and listen to [his] performances. Wonderful, Herbie Hancock-Bill Evan-ish

  • The album is a fertile exercise in overhauling, retooling and refashioning fami
    author: Tom Surowicz, Minneapolis Star Tribune

    Since this CD starts out with Chick Corea's ‘Crystal Silence,' listeners might expect a long set of ethereal, ruminative solo piano. But when McDonough, keyboardist for Bozo Allegro, attacks the keys midway into the tune, it becomes clear that serenity is just one of his goals here. The album is a fertile exercise in overhauling, retooling and refashioning familiar themes. Vince Guaraldi's ‘Linus and Lucy' becomes moody and meandering. John Coltrane's ‘Giant Steps' inspires McDonough's freewheeling and soulful title track. McDonough's ... darn good at thinking on his feet. On Eric Clapton's ‘Layla,' he slyly quotes songs by George Harrison, whose then-wife Patti was Clapton's inspiration for the song. It's the oddest, and best, version since John Fahey and Terry Robb tackled the epic on two acoustic guitars in 1984.

  • McDonough has style. Small Steps is all piano solos in which he interprets the l
    author: T. Alexander, Pulse Of The Twin Cities

    McDonough has style. Small Steps is all piano solos in which he interprets the likes of Chick Corea, Eric Clapton, The Beatles, and Miles Davis. McDonough may be covering these greats, but he has a flair that is all his own. He also exhibits echoes of McCoy Tyner ala My Favorite Things when Tyner was working with John Coltrane. Other times he has flashes of Ian Underwood when he was playing with Frank Zappa in the late '60's. On ‘Layla', the Clapton chestnut, McDonough dismantles the tune and gently sets the chunks spinning like plates on a stick. It is obviously that familiar tune, but it has golden glass threads of flats and sharps, minor sevenths all around it. Along with this set is a tune from Kind Of Blue called ‘All Blues'. On that album Davis rehearsed his quintet using some complicated numbers with tricky turnarounds only to scrap them for sparse, simple sketches to challenge his players to improvise on the day they were to record. McDonough achieves the feel that Bill Evans, Davis's piano player at the time, had set down. McDonough is a very strong player. Completely on the other side of McDonough's abstract flights is Chris Silver's Over Time. This offering is almost a complete polar opposite of Small Steps. Where McDonough plays solo, Silver is joined by thirteen other players. Where McDonough is spacy and loose, Silver's record is a well-ordered bluegrass jamboree. Now bluegrass has a lot in common with jazz. Both of these style players must be precise and loose simultaneously. They both have a history and both are American. Silver's got the goods. He has a strong voice and the fifteen tunes on this records reflect his love for the form. Some of the recordings go back ten years, but that's all right ‘cause this record is timeless. So, why the jazz guy and the bluegrass guy in the same review? Glad you asked! These guys have it in their heads to meld these forms together. They are taunting this amalgam as "fazz" (the alternative being "jolk," right? That won't fly). The idea of jazz and bluegrass is not that odd, really. Ask a Dead Fan. However, judging by the level of craftsmanship on each of their respective albums, it should prove to be a very interesting show.

  • It's wonderful.
    author: Connie Evingson, Minnesota Connection, Jazz88 Kbem 88.5 Radio

    It is interesting because this is a real listening record. It certainly works for background, but it is the kind of record that you get more out of if you really listen. It's wonderful

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