Barbara Carroll in Bloomington, MN

Barbara Carroll
had been actively recording for more than 25 years by the time of this obscure session made for
Blue Note
in 1976. Although the pianist also often sang on record dates, this is purely an instrumental outing. Accompanied by bassist
Chuck Domanico
and drummer
Colin Bailey
,
Carroll
interprets several
standards
with imagination, particularly
"Prelude to a Kiss."
She also composed two originals, including the two-part
"In Some Other World"
and the subtle
"Blues for Artie,"
the latter adding
Dennis Budimir
on guitar.
was in the doldrums during this period, as the label had been sold and was often releasing heavily commercial-sounding albums that had little to do with
jazz
, although, for the most part, this isn't one of them. Two questionable tracks stick out.
Janis Ian
's
"At Seventeen"
is, at best, innocuous. But whoever encouraged the pianist (it wasn't her since she wasn't familiar with the song) to record the lame and universally despised pop song
"Feelings"
has no business being involved in the making of a
record. Available for only a brief time, this LP may be somewhat of a challenge to track down. ~ Ken Dryden