November 1999

John Sheridan
They Can't Take That Away From Me

By Jack Sohmer

On this fifth volume in Arbors' Piano Series, John Sheridan, the veteran pianist/arranger with the San Antonio-based Jim Cullum Jazz Band displays a versatility that is only surpassed these days by Dick Hyman, one of his most frequent duo partners on the band's weekly "Jazz at the Riverwalk" broadcasts. Here, Sheridan exercises his stride chops as well as his blues and balladic sensibilities on 15 diversified tunes ranging from Jelly Roll Morton's "Buddy Bolden's Blues" and the ancient dixieland classic, "Sensation Rag," Irving Berlin's "He Ain't Got Rhythm," and Russ Morgan's neglected "Sweet Eloise," to Ellington's "I Didn't Know About You" and a number of better known standards by Gershwin et al.