This recording of "Chelsea Bridge" comes from The Doug Webb Quartet's 2014 album Sets the Standard. Written by Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington's longtime composing partner and alter ego, the piece is one of the most harmonically beautiful compositions in the jazz repertoire. Inspired by James McNeill Whistler's painting Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge, Strayhorn's composition unfolds with impressionistic harmonic colors that evoke a misty, nocturnal atmosphere. This arrangement features a half-chorus piano solo by Alan Broadbent over the 32-bar AABA form in D-flat at a glacial 49 BPM. The extremely slow tempo demands extraordinary control and patience from the soloist, and Broadbent rises to the challenge with a performance of breathtaking beauty. Each chord voicing is carefully sculpted, each melodic phrase placed with the precision of a painter applying brushstrokes to a canvas. His Lennie Tristano-influenced approach to harmony and line is particularly well-suited to Strayhorn's impressionistic writing, as both composer and improviser share an affinity for lush, unexpected harmonic movement. Webb's decision to cede the solo spotlight entirely to Broadbent on this track is an act of musical wisdom, recognizing that the pianist's harmonic sensibility is ideally matched to this material. The result is one of the album's most luminous moments.
