THEO HILL – PROMETHEAN
Wonderfully romping piano from Theo Hill – a musician who's
clearly got some earlier soul jazz inspiration in his style, but who also knows
how to warm things up with a bit of lyricism too – in a manner that reminds us
of the direction that Cedar Walton took from the 60s into the 70s! Theo has a
way of making complex ideas come across with a very natural pulse – and he gets
great help here from trio members Yasushi Nakamura on bass and Mark Whitfield
on drums – both players who share the same rolling spirit that Theo brings to
his piano. Titles include the original track "The Phoenix", plus
great takes on "Hey It's Me Your Talking To", "Finger
Painting", "Blasphemy", "This Here",
"Litha", and "Is That So". ~ Dusty Groove
MATTHEW SHIPP – INVISIBLE TOUCH AT TAKTLOS ZURICH
Matthew Shipp's been an amazing pianist for quite sometime –
but occasionally, we'll forget how great he can be – and it takes a record like
this to jog our memory! The set is all solo, with Shipp exhibiting an amazing
command of the keyboard – really reaching out to shape sound in special ways,
and often create these progressions that hint towards melody, but often step
sideways into their own sonic territory – free, but never too loose – showing
the confidence of Shipp in the direction he's taking the music! And while
sometimes such a setting can make us think that the pianist is just winding us
up, there's a real sense of cohesion here – maybe almost in the territory of
some of the Keith Jarrett live solo improvisations, although each selection
here is relatively short. Titles include "Blue In Orion",
"Monk's Nightmare", "Intro Z", "Pocket",
"Gamma Ray", "Piece Within Piece", and
"Fairplay". ~ Dusty Groove
ART HIRAHARA – CENTRAL LINE
Art Hirahara is a beautifully fluid pianist – one who really
won us over with his last album on Posi-tone, and who seems to soar even more
here – working in a fantastic trio that includes Linda Oh on bass and Rudy
Royston on drums – plus some occasional tenor from Donny McCaslin! Oh and
Royston have this round presence that really resonates strongly with Art's
piano – creating this wave of soulful energy from the ground up, even on the
mellower moments – with a tonal depth that's sophisticated, yet never forced at
all. When McCaslin comes into the mix, his sound is a bit more separate from
the three – yet in a way that only underscores their cohesion and beautiful
sensitivity together. Titles include "Little Giant", "Sensitive
Animal", "Central Line", "Kuroda Bushi",
"Astray", and a version of the Chico Buarque tune "As Minhas
Meninas". ~ Dusty Groove
No comments:
Post a Comment