In his career, guitarist Dan Rose has performed and recorded in many settings, from avant-garde groups to intimate trios. His recent releases, Last Night and New Leaves, give him an opportunity to perform thoughtful unaccompanied solos and to play intuitive duets with one of his favorite musical partners.
On Last Night, Dan Rose virtually defines “beautiful music” in his solos. He interprets a set of superior ballads with impeccable taste and restraint, letting the music breathe and uplifting each song. His relaxed and thoughtful treatments of such standards, as “Body And Soul,” “Say It Over And Over Again,” “Tenderly,” “What’s New,” “The Folks Who Live On The Hill,” and “Last Night When We Were Young” remind one of how rich those classic melodies are, and how rare it is to hear a guitarist sound very much like an orchestra. Rather than deluge the music with virtuosic double-time runs (which he can supply when it fits the music), Rose serves the melodies rather than the other way around, letting the love songs speak for themselves while he adds his own chord voicings and subtle creativity.
1. Body And Soul (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton) 6:02
2. Darn That Dream (Jimmy Van Heusen, Eddie Delange) 4:26
3. Ellington Medley: Prelude To A Kiss (Duke Ellington, Irving Gordon, Irving Mills); Things Ain’t What They Used To Be (Mercer Ellington, Ted Person); Sophisticated Lady (Duke Ellington, Mitchell Parish) 6:41
4. Say It Over And Over Again (Jimmy Mchugh, Frank Loesser) 4:07
5. Tenderly (Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence) 3:30
6. What’s New (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) 3:31
7. Sweet And Lovely (Gus Arnheim, Charles N. Daniels, Harry Tobias) 3:54
8. The Folks Who Live On The Hill (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II) 4:11
9. If I Loved You (Richard Rogers, Oscar Hammerstein II) 3:32
10. Spring Is Here (Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart) 4:42
11. Moonlight In Vermont (Karl Suessdorf, John Blackburn) 3:09
12. Last Night When We Were Young (Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg) 3:37
13. Medley: Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn); Detour Ahead (Herb Ellis, John Frigo, Lou Carter); Dreamsville (Henry Mancini, Ray Evans, Jay Livingston) 6:13
Dan Rose, guitar
