How Insensitive (album)
Encyclopedia
How Insensitive is the fourteenth album by American pianist and arranger Duke Pearson
featuring performances by Pearson's band augmented by a choir, recorded over three sessions in 1969 and released on the Blue Note
label.
Duke Pearson
Duke Pearson was an American jazz pianist and composer. Allmusic notes him as being a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a producer."-History:...
featuring performances by Pearson's band augmented by a choir, recorded over three sessions in 1969 and released on the Blue Note
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
label.
Reception
The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine awarded the album 2 stars stating "Each song on How Insensitive boasts extravagant, layered arrangements that flirt with schmaltz, but the voicings and attack are so unusual, the result is a weird variation on easy listening. There is little opportunity for Pearson to showcase his tasteful playing through improvisation, yet the arrangements are so off-kilter, the music never quite works as background music. In other words, it's a very interesting failure and one of the strangest by-products of Blue Note's late-'60s commercialization".Track listing
- All compositions by Duke Pearson except as indicated
- "Stella by StarlightStella By Starlight"Stella by Starlight" is a jazz standard written by Victor Young and featured in The Uninvited, a 1944 film released by Paramount Pictures. Originally played in the film as an instrumental theme song without lyrics, it was turned over to Ned Washington, who wrote the lyrics for it in 1946...
" (Ned WashingtonNed WashingtonNed Washington was an American lyricist.-Biography:Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962...
, Victor YoungVictor YoungVictor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...
) - 4:39 - "Clara" (George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Dubose HeywardDuBose HeywardEdwin DuBose Heyward was a white American author best known for his 1925 novel Porgy. This novel was the basis for the play by the same name and, in turn, the opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin.-Life and career:Heyward was born in 1885 in Charleston, South Carolina and was a...
) - 2:43 - "Give Me Your Love" - 3:24
- "Cristo Redentor" - 3:53
- "Little Song" (Jack Manno) - 2:53
- "How Insensitive" (Antonio Carlos JobimAntônio Carlos JobimAntônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim , was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within...
, Vinicius de MoraesVinicius de MoraesMarcus Vinicius de Moraes , known as Vinicius de Moraes and nicknamed O Poetinho , was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Son of Lydia Cruz de Moraes and Clodoaldo Pereira da Silva Moraes, he was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music...
, Norman GimbelNorman GimbelNorman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...
) - 2:13 - "Sandalia Dela" (Pearson, Manno) - 3:28
- "My Love Waits (O Meu Amor Espera)" (Pearson, Manno) - 4:35
- "Tears" (Eumir DeodatoEumir DeodatoEumir Deodato is a Brazilian pianist, composer, record producer and arranger, primarily based in the jazz realm but who historically has been known for eclectic melding of big band and combo jazz with varied elements of rock/pop, R&B/funk, Brazilian/Latin, and symphonic or orchestral music.Mainly,...
, Ray GilbertRay GilbertRay Gilbert was a lyricist.Gilbert is best remembered for the lyrics to the Oscar winning song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from the film Song of the South, which he wrote with Allie Wrubel in 1947.He married, in 1962, actress Janis Paige.Daughter, actress and singer Joanne Gilbert, July...
, Paulo Valle) - 3:29 - "Lamento" (Jobim, de Moraes) - 2:51
- Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ on April 11 (tracks 1 & 3-5), April 14 (tracks 2, 6 & 8), & May 5 (tracks 7, 9 & 10), 1969
- "Stella by Starlight
Personnel
- Duke PearsonDuke PearsonDuke Pearson was an American jazz pianist and composer. Allmusic notes him as being a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a producer."-History:...
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
, arranger - Al Gafa - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(tracks 1-6 & 8) - Dorio Ferreira - guitar, percussion (tracks 7, 9 & 10)
- Bob CranshawBob CranshawMelbourne R. "Bob" Cranshaw is an American jazz bassist. His career spans the heyday of Blue Note Records to his recent involvement with the Musicians Union. He is perhaps best known for his long association with Sonny Rollins...
- bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
(tracks 1-6 & 8) - Bebeto Jose Souza - bass (tracks 7, 9 & 10)
- Mickey RokerMickey RokerGranville "Mickey" Roker is an American jazz drummer. Roker was born into extreme poverty in Miami to Granville and Willie Mae Roker...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Airto MoreiraAirto MoreiraAirto Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. Airto is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. He currently resides in Los Angeles.-Biography:...
- percussion - Andy BeyAndy BeyAndrew W. Bey is a jazz singer and pianist.Bey has a wide vocal range, with his four octave baritone voice.He worked on a television show, Startime, with Connie Francis and sang for Louis Jordan....
- lead vocals (track 2), vocals (1, 3-6 & 8) - Flora PurimFlora PurimFlora Purim is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Chick Corea's landmark album Return to Forever...
- lead vocals (tracks 7, 9 & 10) - The New York Group Singers' Big Band - vocals (tracks 1-6 & 8)
- Jack Manno - conductor