Renowned New York City pianist David Hazeltine acts as musical director and pianist on this release of inspired innovative arrangements of some of Ellington's most well-known and classic tunes.
A player and writer with great respect for the melody, Hazeltine can be surprisingly inventive with the harmonic and rhythmic possibilities in a tune. Unobtrusive yet frequently exciting, Hazeltine always sounds as if he is digging what he's playing, and his approach makes well-known tunes sound fresh.