Neville Dickie is one of the great stride pianists to emerge since 1980. A brilliant player from Great Britain,
Dickie can play complex novelty ragtime pieces from the 1920s flawlessly, making it all sound easy. On this set he performs 13 unaccompanied solos and seven pieces on which he is joined by Martin Wheatley on banjo. Wheatley switches to guitar on two other songs and plays steel guitar on "Pleasure Mad." The only fault to the set is that
Dickie sounds so relaxed in spots as to almost be emulating a player piano. The lack of variety in emotions is a minor flaw, but one supposes that being too perfect is not a valid criticism.
Dickie revives a variety of pieces from the 1920s and turns everything into hot, if effortless, stride, making this a set easily recommended to fans of 1920s piano. ~ Scott Yanow