Circle Waltz

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Down Beat	[2]
AllMusic	[3]

Noted jazz writer and critic Leonard Feather had this to say in his Down Beat review of January 17, 1963: "Friedman is a rare pianist. He thinks before he plays... the album is in a class with some of the best work of Bill Evans, with whom Friedman can be related in terms of general direction rather than emulation."

Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars with its review by Scott Yanow stating, "Even ignoring that bassist Chuck Israels is on this set and the similarity of some of the repertoire, it is difficult to overlook the fact that pianist Don Friedman sounds very similar to Bill Evans... Friedman uses chord voicings similar to Evans and engages in the same type of close interplay with his sidemen. However, since the music is of high quality and few other keyboardists sounded like Evans this early, Circle Waltz is worth hearing by post-bop fans."[3]

All compositions by Don Friedman except as indicated

1. "Circle Waltz" – 5:59
2. "Sea's Breeze" – 6:05
3. "I Hear a Rhapsody" (Jack Baker, George Fragos, Dick Gasparre) – 7:32
4. "In Your Own Sweet Way" (Dave Brubeck) – 5:20
5. "Loves Parting" – 5:45
6. "So in Love" (Cole Porter) – 3:25
7. "Modes Pivoting" – 6:44

• Don Friedman – piano
• Chuck Israels – bass (tracks 1–5 & 7)
• Pete LaRoca – drums (tracks 1–5 & 7)