Donald Lambert Recorded 1959-1961

This 69-minute CD (24 tunes), featuring Donald Lambert playing solo piano exclusively, was recorded live in 1959-61; the music has never been released before. The music was recorded in a relaxed, intimate club setting and features standards, show tunes, and many numbers by stride-piano masters such as James P. Johnson and Eubie Blake. Donald Lambert was a stride pianist, where a strong rhythm is always patiently kept by the left hand, without much improvising. Lambert had a fierce left hand – in the tradition of James P. Johnson, Fats Waller and Willie ”The Lion” Smith – while his right hand was often delicate, lyrical and his phrasing exquisite. This CD is full of brilliant stride piano classics, such as ”Hallelujah”, ”Trolley Song” and the powerful ”Keep Off the Grass” – plus Beethoven’s ”Moonlight Sonata”(!). Donald Lambert was one of the best stride pianists, with Fats Waller and James P. Johnson as his only rivals in his younger days.