My Funny Valentine (Larry Willis album)

My Funny Valentine
Studio album by
Larry Willis
Released1988
RecordedFebruary 1988
StudioSound On Sound Recording, New York, NY
GenreJazz
Length63:07 CD release with additional tracks
LabelJazz City
C28Y0352
ProducerYoshiaki Masuo, Tony Ariga
Larry Willis chronology
Inner Crisis
(1973) 		My Funny Valentine
(1988) 		Just in Time
(1989)

My Funny Valentine is an album by American jazz pianist Larry Willis recorded in 1988 and originally released on the Japanese Jazz City label before being reissued in the US on Evidence Music in 1998.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[3]

Allmusic's Michael G. Nastos said: "the Willis heard on 1988's enjoyable, if conventional, My Funny Valentine is a more conservative post-bopper/hard bopper ... Willis plays the acoustic piano exclusively on this CD, and standards are a high priority. Nothing cutting-edge occurs, just straight-ahead jazz that's honest, warm and melodic. ... all of which demonstrate how sensitive a ballad player he can be".[2]

Track listing

  1. "For Openers" (Kenny Garrett) – 5:46
  2. "It Could Happen to You" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) – 3:18
  3. "Blues for Wynton Kelly" (Larry Willis) – 6:32
  4. "Who's Kidding Who?" (Gerard D'Angelo) – 8:52
  5. "Rhythm-a-Ning" (Thelonious Monk) – 6:04
  6. "Blood Count" (Billy Strayhorn) – 6:29
  7. "My Shining Hour/I'll Be Seeing You" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer/ Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal) – 6:46
  8. "Lazy Afternoon" (Jerome Moross, John La Touche) – 5:16
  9. "Ethiopia" (Willis) – 8:02
  10. "My Funny Valentine" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 6:02

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Jazzlists: Larry Willis discography, accessed January 4, 2019
  2. ^ a b Nastos, Michael G.. Larry Willis: Just in Time – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  3. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1514. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.