Self-Release – available from Bandcamp
Peter Billington (piano, Rhodes & guitar); Paul Jefferies (acoustic & electric bass); Simon Price (drums & shaker); Fleur Stevenson (Tracks 5 & 8)
Recorded live at Crescent Records 2023
Pete Billington is a bit of a well-kept secret and seemingly too modest to push himself into the limelight. He doesn’t even have a website! While an admirable trait, sometimes letting the music do the talking is not always enough, so here is a shout out, on his behalf, for Pete Billington.
A multi-instrumentalist, he plays piano, guitar, bass and viola all to an astonishingly high standard and is a gifted and lucid improviser. He has made several albums with the equally sensational Fleur Stevenson including last year’s excellent For All We Know. Sticking predominantly to piano for this trio recording Billington displays a mastery that may catch the uninitiated by surprise, ably supported by Paul Jefferies and Simon Price.
If you have read the review this far, and are still wondering who Sidney is, take another look at the album cover and I’m sure that the anagram and word play will immediately jump out at you. Taking some wonderful tunes from the many films made by Disney is not a task to be undertaken lightly.
So well-loved are these tunes that to play around with them too much is highly likely to cause offence, but fear not as Billington and the trio handle each and every one with due care and attention and cannot fail to put a smile on your face.
Setting mood with a brief solo piano version of ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’ that is over far too quickly but does set the scene nicely for what is to follow.
‘Trust in Me’ has a sinewy and slippery introduction that eases into lovely swing feel with Billington adding some nice strong chordal accompaniment into his solo.
Picking the right tempo is paramount in taking these songs out of context, and this the pianist does with much good taste. However, context in this case is everything and the music never strays far from the melodies, and in the lovely ‘When She Loved Me’ which is rousing and stirring and exceptionally poignant.
There is another fine solo from Billington and bassist Paul Jefferies gets in on the act too. This intimate and delicate side of the trio also comes to the fore on a delightful ‘Baby of Mine’.
The trio is joined by the wonderful Fleur Stevenson on two tracks. The first of these, ‘Best of Friends’ is taken at a gentle tempo yet still swings infectiously as the vocalist’s honey-toned voice caresses the melody.
Pete Billington switches to guitar for the lilting rhythm of ‘Love’ and after Ms. Stevenson’s cheerily optimistic delivery of the lyrics plays a fine solo.
Throughout, Billington takes us on a nostalgic trip through some of everyone’s favourite Disney songs and delivers them with a panache that is immediately appealing, but what makes the album so arresting is the quality of the solos. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ has an exquisite and exciting solo from the pianist who is almost usurped by Nigel Jeffries arco solo.
The album concludes as it begins with a solo piano piece in ‘Feed The Birds’ that leaves one calmly reflective and basking in the joy of the selected tunes and the trio’s treatment of them.
In closing, and as the festive season is once again upon us, it would be remiss of me not to mention that the Pete Billington Trio released a Christmas album last year. Under the title of ‘Probably The Best Christmas Album (I’ve) Ever Made’ you’re probably thinking that it will be a run through the usual festive fare, albeit a swinging affair.
To a degree you would be right, but it is done with such imagination and invention that it makes for a fine listen, and with a few surprises thrown in for good measure. Just take a listen to ‘My Favourite Kings’ that juxtaposes ‘My Favourite Things’ and We Three Kings’ with a hint of Tynerisms and a swinging solo from Billington, and the cleverly worked ‘Santa Claus Is Coming to Monk’.
See how many Thelonious Monk tunes you can find in less than four and half minutes in this little masterclass (I counted at least five). Worth the price of admission on its own.
