Silent Pool

by Scott YanowRather than "Silent Pool," the Marian McPartland selection on this rather sleepy CD that best sums up the music is "Melancholy Mood." Long adept at writing harmonically sophisticated originals, pianist McPartland is featured on a dozen of her compositions with the backing of 20 strings, bassist Andy Simpkins and drummer Harold Jones. Alan Broadbent's string arrangements (a throwback in some ways to the mood music records of the 1950s) are lush, dreamy, always middle-of-the-road and sometimes dull. McPartland plays well as usual on the ballad-oriented set that includes at least three of her best-known originals ("A Delicate Balance," "Ambiance" and "Threnody"), but the unadventurous strings clearly weigh down the music.