As you can see from the photograph, Richard Whiteman was having a good time at Mezzetta's Wednesday Jazz night when he played piano with Reg Schwager backing him on guitar.Whiteman's excitement is infectious, whether he is playing standards like These Foolish Things, Charlie Parker's ode to his cat Marmaduke, or one of Whiteman's own strongly melodic compositions with cool titles like Forward, or That Was Then.

Whiteman's style is crisp, elegant, sophisticated. Listening to this duo make music, I imagined Monk building chord progressions with Jim Hall comping behind him or soloing lightly at intervals. Fine duo for a small room. Hear them when you get the chance.