by Ken Dryden
The fine bop pianist George Wallington hasn't received the recognition he deserved, possibly because of a two-dozen year gap from 1960-1984 when he was entirely out of the music business. This first-rate trio date for Atlantic has finally come out on CD and should help gain him some posthumous attention. One of his two greatest compositions, &Godchild& (which appears on the classic Miles Davis release The Birth of the Cool), opens the disc with a flourish, but there are many strong originals present. The lively stair-stepping &Serendipity& and the furious &Up Jumped the Devil& are worthy of comparison to Bud Powell. Wallington also covers several standards such as &Will You Still Be Mine?& and &It's All Right With Me& with finesse and imagination.