Roger Kellaway knows how to take songs apart and put them back together differently so they run brighter and more sophisticated. Take Try to Remember, the first song on his new album—Live at Mezzrow (Cellar Music), recorded at the New York club in 2023. The song from The Fantasticks (1960) was a gambit, since for me it has always been weighed down by faux sentimentality. I also can't separate the song from vocalist Robert Goulet, the show's star.
But Roger knew all of that going in. Rather than play the song straight, he wisely provides only shards of the melody throughout to let you know what he's playing and spends the balance of time delivering a fractured, cubist solo rendition. Quite remarkable to transform a mawkish standard into a more desirable listen.
Best known as Bobby Darin's musical director and accompanist in the 1960s and for composing and playing All in the Family's closing theme in the 1970s, Roger is still hard at work and gloriously ahead of the curve. He's joined on the new album by bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Dennis Mackrel, with special guest, guitarist Roni Ben-Hur. [Photo above of Jay Leonhart]
The second song, All Blues, by Miles Davis, from his album Kind of Blue, is brooding and builds steadily. Roger rolls out plenty of straight-up blues to give it a slightly different shading from the modal approach used by Bill Evans on the Davis album.
Evans's Blue in Green from the same LP also undergoes a makeover, retaining its original crab-like, humid feel on Kind of Blue but with a bushier delivery. In fact, you might not even be able to identify the song Roger is playing if you didn't have the album in front of you. [Photo above of Dennis Mackrel]
All of the remaining songs, including Ettore Stratta's Pages of Life and Good Morning Bahia, Davis's So What?, Roger's All My Life and Thelonious Monk's Straight No Chaser wind up sounding different from what you might expect. [Photo above of Ronnie Ben-Hur]
For example, a song that flamed out for me long ago is Take the A Train. Here again, on the final track, Roger transforms the Billy Strayhorn piece for Duke Ellington from a mundane choice into mandatory listening as Roger unleashes a steady shower of piano styles. Sheepishly, I must admit that the song I've thought of as exhausted is the album's show-stopper.
Roger is a treasure.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Live at Mezzrow (Cellar Music) here.
You'll also find the album on most major streaming platforms.
JazzWax clips: Here's Try to Remember...
And here's Take the A Train...
JazzWax note: To read my JazzWax interview with Roger, go here and here.
