''Double Play!'' is a 1957

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

album featuring pianists Russ Freeman and André Previn.AllMusic
/ref> It was recorded and released in 1957 on the

Contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

label, and re-released in 1993 in the

Original Jazz Classics Original Jazz Classics (or OJC) is a record label that founded in 1983 as an imprint of Fantasy Records. Under this name original editions of jazz LPs have been reissued on CD and LP, and formerly on cassette as well. The recordings in the seri ...

series. Together with drummer

Shelly Manne Sheldon "Shelly" Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984) was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, sw ...

, the album, as its title suggests, includes eight baseball-themed original compositions by Freeman and Previn along with the

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

Take Me Out to the Ball Game "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of North American baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game prior to writing the song ...

". (The rather risque-by-1950s-standards album cover features a model wearing a

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

cap.) The album was advertised at the time as the first time that two pianists recorded "modern jazz" together. ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' suggested that the album was the best of Previn's early releases, being "the most uncomplicatedly jazz-driven".

Track listing

# "

" (

Jack Norworth John Godfrey Knauff (January 5, 1879 – September 1, 1959), known professionally as Jack Norworth, was an American songwriter, singer and vaudeville performer. Biography Norworth is credited as writer of a number of Tin Pan Alley hits. He wr ...

, Albert Von Tilzer) # "Who's on First?" (Previn) - 3:37 # "Called on Account of Rain" (Previn) - 5:11 # "In the Cellar Blues" (Previn, Freeman) - 5:01 # "Batter Up" (Freeman) - 3:58 # "Double Play" (Freeman) - 4:58 # "Safe at Home" (Freeman) - 6:03 # "Fungo" (Freeman) - 5:42 # "Strike Out the Band" (Previn) - 4:12 ''Track 1-5 recorded on April 30, 1957; tracks 6-9 on May 11, 1957''

Personnel

* Russ Freeman - piano * André Previn - piano *

- drums

References

{{Authority control 1957 albums André Previn albums Contemporary Records albums Russ Freeman (pianist) albums Original Jazz Classics albums