Hazy And Blue - Alec Templeton

Here is a lovely gentle bluesy piano solo by the Welsh jazz pianist/satirist Alec Templeton (1910-1963).

Blind from birth, Templeton possessed a prodigious piano talent with a beautiful tone, whose classical touch and dynamic control are highly reminiscent of Fats Waller’s. Classically trained but with much experience playing jazz in local big bands of the 30s, he was famous for his popular music/jazz interpretations of classical themes.

Benny Goodman popularised his well-known Bach Goes To Town from his Topsy Turvy piano suite.

But he also composed some lovely evocative one-off piano solos such as the published A Sultry Day In New York and this unpublished (to my knowledge) little gem, Hazy and Blue.

Of note are the mesmerising (and surprisingly playable!) chromatic tenths in the left hand, which complement the sultry, bluesy melody with its lovely whole-tone scale references. His delicate use of contrasting dynamics would have made the repetition of such musical material rather monotonous in another pianist’s hands, yet Templeton seems to take us on a journey.

Here is the original recording for reference:

https://youtu.be/6PE5IhtlJNs?si=8HHUatNxk4evYfwB

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