posted: 2024-06-17 Duo 2 Kenny Drew & Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen

After a long period off of records (at least as a leader), pianist Kenny Drew emerged in 1973 for a duo session with bassist Niels Pederson. For their rematch in 1974, Drew and Pederson performed one original apiece, five standards (including “A Child Is Born” and “My Shining Hour”) and jazz interpretations of a couple of Scandinavian folk songs. The pianist’s style was largely unchanged from the 1950s except that he had grown a bit as a player and was open to some more modern chord voicings. The music on this encounter with the virtuosic bassist Niels Pederson should easily appeal to Kenny Drew’s fans.

Scott Yanow, AllMusic