Stewart Goodyear: Callaloo & Piano Sonata - Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

The pianist/composer tradition is in wonderful health: Here, Stewart Goodyear, a brilliant player with a taste for rhythm and energy, performs two of his own works in world-premiere recordings. The first, the piano concerto Callaloo, celebrates the Caribbean’s carnivals, calypso and golden sunsets with imagination and unbounded joy. Goodyear’s Piano Sonatais just as thrilling. Written when he was 18, his homage to pop culture explodes with technical daring, while Rachmaninoff gets a nod in the beautiful slow movement. The original band version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue gives Goodyear the chance to show that his jazz chops are as refined as his classical credentials. Chineke! and Wayne Marshall sparkle with a perfect combination of exuberance and tautness.