from Steven Blier:
To usher in the weekend, Cole Porter’s “Dream Dancing” played by one of my idols, piano legend Bill Evans. He’s partnering Tony Bennett, the Helden-tenor of popular song. There are very few piano-and-voice jazz albums without bass and drums, so it’s especially meaningful (and rare) for me to hear Bill Evans play for Tony B. with no sidemen. This is how I play popular music 99.99999% of the time—I’m used to providing my own rhythm section, my own bass lines—and listening to Evans go commando (musically) is like having a piano lesson. He is so elegant in this tune, tossing off perfect voicings and the most gorgeous Ravel-ish harmonies, gourmet gelato à la Steinway.
The tune didn’t make it onto either of the two LPs that came out of these mid-1970s sessions, and in truth it has a couple of tiny glitches that may have consigned it to the archives. But Fantasy Recordings did include the song on the CD issue, and I fell in love with it. I never, ever play “Dream Dancing” just once. One night as we were making dinner, I was heading into replay #6 when Jim gently said, “Um, could we maybe hear another song?” Forthwith, the Lay’s Potato Chips of Cole Porter recordings—bet you can’t eat just one.
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