Tommy Flanagan
Piano Solo on
Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise

About

Tommy Flanagan follows Paul Chambers with a half-chorus on piano, completing the solo section. Taken at a medium-up swing tempo of 169 BPM over the 32-bar AABA in C, the improvisation flows with assured, relaxed momentum. Tommy Flanagan follows with a tasteful half-chorus piano solo that highlights his gift for elegant understatement. Recorded for the album Paul Chambers Quintet in 1957, the performance captures Tommy Flanagan at 26 to 27 years old. Sigmund Romberg composed the music for Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II in 1928 for the Broadway operetta The New Moon, set during the French Revolution.

Tommy Flanagan was 26 to 27 years old at the time.