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Description
There are artists whose songs translate naturally to solo piano, and then there is Billy Joel — whose songs were written on the piano, arranged around the piano, and in most cases recorded with the piano as the primary instrument from the start. This ten-track collection covers a solid stretch of his catalog, drawing from across several decades of his output and landing on some of his most well-known titles alongside a few less obvious choices like Leningrad and Don't Ask Me Why. The playing brings a jazz sensibility to the material that suits it well — the chord voicings have enough flexibility to keep the arrangements from feeling like straight transcriptions, while still staying close enough to the originals that each song is recognizable within the first few bars.
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant is the natural centerpiece of the album, its three distinct sections and shifting tempos giving it more ground to cover than anything else in the track list. Piano Man and New York State of Mind need little introduction in any context, and both are handled here with enough room to breathe that the familiar melodies land without feeling rushed. Vienna, Honesty, and She's Got a Way anchor the quieter half of the album, while My Life provides one of the few moments where the tempo picks up noticeably.
At ten tracks, the collection stops well before it runs out of strong material to draw from — which, given the depth of the catalog, is saying something.
Track List:
- Piano Man - 5:52
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- My Life - 3:39
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- New York State of Mind - 6:33
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- Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - 7:41
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- She's Always a Woman - 2:31
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- Vienna - 3:27
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- Honesty - 3:48
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- Don't Ask Me Why - 3:19
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- She's Got a Way - 3:16
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- Leningrad - 4:12
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- Total Runtime - 44:18
