Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Dudley Moore: Today

1

Dudley Moore: Today

By

Sign in to view read count
Dudley Moore: Today
Dudley Moore was something of a genius but his contribution to jazz could have been greater had he not been diverted by his other activities. Following his rise to stardom as a member of the satirical Beyond The Fringe team and his subsequent BBC television appearances with Peter Cook in the hit comedy series Not Only...But Also, he started making movies which benefitted from increasing degrees of commercial success. Through films such as Bedazzled with Raquel Welch, 10 with Bo Derek and Julie Andrews and Arthur with Liza Minnelli, he became, to all intents and purposes, a genuine Hollywood superstar. So that didn't leave an awful lot of time left for jazz which is a shame because he was a prodigiously talented musician, starting out as pianist with John Dankworth's Orchestra and later forming his own trio.

Within the space of a decade, spanning the mid-1960s-70s, he recorded only a few albums with the trio, including The Other Side Of Dudley Moore, Genuine Dud for Decca and Today for Atlantic. This last album, recorded during a three week tour of Australia in 1971 was typical of his repertoire. It was populated by originals and standards and Moore's primary influences, Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson were readily discernible. But he also possessed his own stylistic idiosyncrasies not least in his own compositions typically imbued with the ebullience that reflected his on-screen persona. "Song For Suzy," written for his first wife the actress Suzy Kendall, is a perfect example, part jazz, part pop, it even made it into the charts when released as a single. On this track Moore actually scat sings a very catchy melody over the bluesy chords.

Of the standards, Burt Bacharach's "The Look Of Love" and Henry Mancini's "Two For The Road" stand out. "Robyn's Blues" is an affecting 12 bar and "The Staircase" is reminiscent in its opening bars of some of the orchestrated pieces on the Moore-composed score of Bedazzled. Given the relative paucity of Moore's recorded musical output, Today must rank as an important reissue and there's a bonus of an accompanying ten page booklet with comprehensive biographical sleeve notes and some rare photos.

Track Listing

The More I See You; Waterloo; Before Love Went Out Of Style; Look Of Love; Song For Suzy; Two For The Road; Robyn’s Blues; The Staircase.

Personnel

Dudley Moore: piano; Peter Morgan: bass; Chris Karan: drums.

Album information

Title: Today | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Cherry Red Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Fiesta at Caroga
Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective
Fellowship
David Gibson
Immense Blue
Olie Brice / Rachel Musson / Mark Sanders

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.