Tamir Hendelman (piano); Jon Hamar (bass); Jeff Hamilton (drums).
Hendelman has appeared on at least six album reviews on BSH, usually with Hamilton on drums, and every one of them has been a revelation serving to remind me that great jazz piano didn't end with the passing of Oscar Peterson - maybe that was the beginning of a new chapter. One that, like all good music, looked to the future without forgetting the past.
Hendelman can swing like Peterson, probe like Evans, reach out like Jarrett, put them all together and you have an outstanding talent. Amazingly, he hasn't shown in recent DownBeat polls!
Hamilton fared a little better, DB readers placed him at number 9 behind Brian Blade but one place higher than Billy Cobham. Hamar didn't show, However, listening to him here where he also composed a couple of the tunes, only goes to prove how meaningless polls are!
Make me Rainbows, by John Williams and the Bergmans, sounds not unlike On a Clear Day which doesn't do it any harm whatsoever; George Cable's Helen's Song; Hendelman's boppish Catch Me If You Can; John Von Ohlen's The Pond; A Brazilian standard Lapinha; Hamar's The Barn and Bucket O'Fat; the Ralph Burns classic that he wrote for Woody Herman, Bijou; Thad Jones' Big Dipper - the most swinging track on the album - and, finally, Artie Shaw's Moonray. They all combine to make what is possibly the most enjoyable disc I've heard this year and, maybe quite a few other years too!
If piano trios are your forte then look no further.
Lance
Available July 17 on Capri Records.
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