Now aged 75, pianist Richie Beirach made an album with the same title in 1976, a duo set with reeds man Jeremy Steig. When he recorded this set last summer at a chateau in the St-Emilion region, however, he was on his own. Between the early 1970s, when he started out, and now, there have been many more albums, very often solo or duo recordings, made with musicians somewhat better known than himself. Dave Liebman and Chet Baker were among them, the latter having recorded the title track towards the end of his life, along with a version of Beirach's ‘Broken Wing’, which (sadly) isn't included here.

There's nothing to frighten the horses: Beirach sticks mainly to standards, which he plays with all the confidence and grandeur of the classically-trained pianist he is. His choice of material on the day of recording was apparently spontaneous hence, perhaps, the medleys: 'What Is This Thing Called Love?'/'Alone Together'/'Blue in Green', and later on, 'Spring is Here'/'Maiden Voyage'/'Monk's Dream'/'You Don't Know What Love Is'.

His angular rendition of ‘What Is This Thing Called Love?’ takes quite a while to emerge from its searching introduction, and along the way his style veers pleasingly from pounding angst to drifting contemplation.