No Local Stops

American pianist Andrew Oliver plays ragtime, stride, and early jazz with a rare combination of energy, authenticity, and technical prowess. A specialist in the music of Jelly Roll Morton, Oliver has cultivated a hot, stomping style that emphasizes the exciting groove that brought jazz to the forefront of popular music in the 1910s and '20s. In "No Local Stops," Oliver serves up some of Morton's best-loved piano works, supplementing them with masterpieces by Willie "The Lion" Smith, Joseph Lamb, Seger Ellis, James P. Johnson, Arthur Schutt, Frank Melrose, and others. The performances are bold, virtuosic, and thoroughly captivating. CD includes a 16-page full-color booklet with notes by the artist. 18 tracks, 61 minutes.