Friedman

Pianist Don Friedman has had a lengthy career that includes 35 CDs as a leader and many significant associations since at least the early '60s. Friedman has lost none of his enthusiasm or creative abilities through the years, as can be heard on this excellent quartet outing. Although a few selections are mildly funky or a little more modern, most of the performances are very boppish, with Friedman playing his take on the Bud Powell tradition. Friedman's five originals and bassist Martin Wind's catchy "Early Morning Blues" are on the same high level as the four standards. Guitarist Peter Bernstein is a major asset. His solos are tasteful and swinging, but it is his interplay with Friedman that are the consistent high points. With fine support from Wind and drummer Tony Jefferson, this is one of Don Friedman's best all-round recordings.~Scott Yanow, allmusic.com

Who else could have written a country song about the Holocaust ("Ride 'Em Jewboy"), or about a human being kept in a cage as part of a circus ("Wild Man from Borneo")? Outrageous and irreverent but nearly always thought-provoking, Kinky Friedman wrote and performed satirical country songs during the 1970s and has been hailed the Frank Zappa of country music. The son of a University of Texas professor who raised his children on the family ranch, Rio Duckworth, he was born Richard F. Friedman. He studied psychology at Texas and founded his first band while there. However, King Arthur & the Carrots – a group that poked fun at surf music – recorded only one single in 1966. After graduation, Friedman served three years in the Peace Corps; he was stationed in Borneo, where he was an agricultural extension worker.