After posting this video of Stefano Bollani earlier this week, I was reminded of this gem off his first solo piano album with ECM, which is titled, appropriately enough, Piano Solo.

I’m not aware of the Beach Boys getting too many jazz treatments, but given the complexities and richness of much of Brian Wilson’s work, I’m now wondering why not.  I wrote before about Bollani’s “angular” approach to the piano, and this piece illustrates what I’m trying to convey by that.  He comes at this material elliptically – as perhaps you have to with something so familiar – and throws down some peachy, darkly atonal chords which sit (to my ears anyway) at glorious odds with the languid feel of the piece.

This also neatly fits into my off-again, on-again series of pop tunes getting reworked by jazz musicians.  Oh yeah, and it’s fabulous.