This 1975 release is from the period when
Phineas Newborn -- who battled health problems throughout his career -- had resumed recording and performing following a hiatus from extensive public activity. The set of solo performances faithfully documents the prodigious technique that first gained the pianist recognition in the 1950s.
Newborn's technical skills were an inextricable part of a musical character anchored in high drama and passages overflowing with a frothing torrent of notes. While in ensemble settings
Newborn could be an elegant accompanist in the style of
Hank Jones or
Tommy Flanagan, his command of the piano more accurately compares with
Art Tatum's and
Oscar Peterson's (the overstuffed performances that dominate
Solo Piano also show he was prone to their excesses).
Erroll Garner is another kindred spirit, whose crowd-wowing mannerisms have similarities with
Newborn's approach. Like
Garner,
Newborn tends to hit the climactic moments early and stay there, foregoing development and dynamics. The exception on
Solo Piano is
Newborn's nuanced handling of the ballad "The Midnight Sun Will Never Set," where he reins in the chops and creates a seven-minute oasis of refined beauty.
Newborn is not alone in crowding his unaccompanied work with epic statements; the same tendency occurs in the solo performances of bop-based players such as
Hampton Hawes and
Barry Harris. Where
Newborn differs, though, is in his relentless recourse to a virtuosity of near-histrionic proportions, which he pursues on this set at the expense of swinging, harmonic imagination, and subtlety. ~ Jim Todd