Let’s Eat Home

Liner Notes

The pitfalls of romance, the shallowness of imagery, the glories of the past-Dave Frishberg nails each of those, and more, with wit, warmth and infectious musicianship.

His lyrics are full of comic and serious messages, all inextricably wedded to the music. But his messages are equally clear on his instrumentals-he is, after all, first a piano player – whether paying homage to the late Al Cohn with a medley or injecting a rollicking spirit and a rolling-thunder bass line into Duke Ellington’s The Mooche.

There’s a distinctive lilting abandon to his piano chops. The kicker, of course, is when he adds his lyrics, infusing the words with phrasing that reflects his deadpan, owlish expression. In the Latin-flavored title piece, for example, he satirizes the jet-set with:

I like to stick
With the first-class Ticket buyers.
Setting trends
With my trend-setting friends,
The frequent flyers …

Then he returns to earth with:

If it’s all the same to you, Let’s eat home.

Like Frishberg, the players who accompany him on a number of the tracks are bedrock musicians-trumpeter Snooky Young, trombonist Rob McConnell, bassist Jim Hughart and drummer Jeff Hamilton.

“Producer Carl Jefferson permits me the luxury of choosing from a pool of the world’s greatest players,” Frishberg noted.

Snooky Young, of course, has been one of the great lead trumpeters and soloists since his early days with the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra (1939-42). And his burnished improvisations have been heard with the bands of Lionel Hampton, Les Hite, Benny Carter and, in particular, with the Count Basie Orchestra. “I met Snooky in the Bill Berry band in Los Angeles,” Frishberg said. “He’s a real hero to me, and I’m privileged to have him on my recording.”

Trombonist Rob McConnell, who developed his considerable chops in the bands of Gordon Delamont, Maynard Ferguson and Phil Nimmons, established an international reputation during the past 20 years with his own Boss Brass, which features his skillful charts. “I’ve known him for years,” Frishberg said, “and I’m a big fan of his musicianship.”

Dave chose Jim Hughart “because he’s one of my favorite bass players.” He’s been a favorite of many, in fact, being a three-time NARAS award-winner as most valuable player on his instrument, and a bassist who has been heard with Joe Williams, Zoot Sims, Oscar Peterson, Johnny Griffin, Cannonball Adderley and Joe Pass, among others. He’s also on one of Frishberg’s other Concord recordings.

As for Jeff Hamilton – a drummer who began gathering steam with the Woody Herman Band, with the L.A. Four and, most recently, in a superb group with pianist Gene Harris and bassist Ray Brown — “I couldn’t ask for a more intuitive drummer;· Dave said.

Together they’1dck off the package with Brenda Starr, a bright Johnny Mandel tune to which Frishberg added whimsical daring-do adventures of the comic-strip character.

After the wit of Let’s Eat Home, Frishberg turns to a medley of five compositions by one of his heroes, saxophonist/composer Al Cohn. (It was in the quintet led by Cohn and Zoot Sims that Frishberg helped establish his credentials in the 1960s.) The tribute hops into gear with From A To Z, decelerates to the medium-tempo lilt of Tears By Me Out The Heart, moves to a mournful Tasty Pudding and an eloquent Blues For The High-brow, then leaps into the uptempo Mr. George.

Frishberg’s love for sports-who can forget his “Van Lingle Mungo” and “Dear Departed Past”-surfaces in a single glorious chorus of Matty, a sentimental celebration of pitcher Christy Mathewson. And he follows it with another solo performance, capturing Ellington’s vitality and insinuations in The Mooche.

I Was Ready is classic Frishberg humor, in the tradition of “Blizzard Of Lies” and “You’d Rather Have The Blues.” This time, he sings:

I was ready,
Just like Oswald was ready for Ruby,
Like Michael Dukakis was ready to star on 1V ..
I was ready for her,
Nelson Eddy for her,
I was ready for her,
But she wasn’t ready for me.

The band gives Edvard Grieg’s Strange Music (from “Song of Norway”) an uptempo reading, with Frishberg appending the Robert Craig Wright lyrics and some rich percussive piano.

The music of Billy Strayhorn, another Frishberg idol, gets solo treatment from the pianist in a medley laced with the composer’s ballad strengths (Lotus Blossom, A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing and Something To Live For) as well as three spirited numbers (Take The ‘A’ Train, Raincheck and Johnny Come Lately).

The horn players set the pace for A Ship Without A Sail (Rodgers and Hart), and Frishberg supplements it with a simple, no-tricks vocal, delightful in its plaintiveness.

Focusing on the world of illusion, Frishberg suggests that Lookin’ Good is all that matters:

Let that be your main credential
You’ll get treatment preferential
It’s a rule that’s still
Essentially ironclad.
Remember you can’t look bad
Long as you’re lookin’ good.

Frishberg returns to one of his evergreens for the finale, The Underdog, an Al Cohn piece to which he put poignant lyrics:

There’s strange satisfaction
When you’re putting all your action On the underdog ..
Favorites don’t always win, That longshot may come in.

Never mind. This one’s a sure bet.

— STUART TROUP
New York Newsday columnist;
co-author of Woody Herman’s autobiography, The Woodchopper’s Ball (E.P. Dutton).