How Insensitive (album)

How Insensitive is the fourteenth album by American pianist and arranger Duke Pearson featuring performances by Pearson's band augmented by a choir, recorded over three sessions in 1969 and released on the Blue Note label.

Reception
The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine awarded the album 2 stars stating "Each song on How Insensitive boasts extravagant, layered arrangements that flirt with schmaltz, but the voicings and attack are so unusual, the result is a weird variation on easy listening. There is little opportunity for Pearson to showcase his tasteful playing through improvisation, yet the arrangements are so off-kilter, the music never quite works as background music. In other words, it's a very interesting failure and one of the strangest by-products of Blue Note's late-'60s commercialization".

Track listing

 * All compositions by Duke Pearson except as indicated


 * 1) "Stella by Starlight" (Ned Washington, Victor Young) - 4:39
 * 2) "Clara" (George Gershwin, Dubose Heyward) - 2:43
 * 3) "Give Me Your Love" - 3:24
 * 4) "Cristo Redentor" - 3:53
 * 5) "Little Song" (Jack Manno) - 2:53
 * 6) "How Insensitive" (Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Norman Gimbel) - 2:13
 * 7) "Sandalia Dela" (Pearson, Manno) - 3:28
 * 8) "My Love Waits (O Meu Amor Espera)" (Pearson, Manno) - 4:35
 * 9) "Tears" (Eumir Deodato, Ray Gilbert, Paulo Valle) - 3:29
 * 10) "Lamento" (Jobim, de Moraes) - 2:51
 * Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ on April 11 (tracks 1 & 3-5), April 14 (tracks 2, 6 & 8), & May 5 (tracks 7, 9 & 10), 1969

Personnel

 * Duke Pearson - piano, electric piano, arranger
 * Al Gafa - guitar (tracks 1-6 & 8)
 * Dorio Ferreira - guitar, percussion (tracks 7, 9 & 10)
 * Bob Cranshaw - bass (tracks 1-6 & 8)
 * Bebeto Jose Souza - bass (tracks 7, 9 & 10)
 * Mickey Roker - drums
 * Airto Moreira - percussion
 * Andy Bey - lead vocals (track 2), vocals (1, 3-6 & 8)
 * Flora Purim - lead vocals (tracks 7, 9 & 10)
 * The New York Group Singers' Big Band - vocals (tracks 1-6 & 8)
 * Jack Manno - conductor