Iverson makes his Blue Note debut with the outstanding Larry Grenadier on bass and the legendary Jack DeJohnette on drums.
Although different to The Bad Plus, the band that Iverson founded and which many people still associate him with, there are similarities in as much as both successfully combine jazz with a contemporary rock/pop feel although the jazz element is invariably at the forefront on most of the tracks.
The opener - The More it Changes - is a nod to the social distancing of recent times with 44 of the pianist's friends singing as a choir via their phones! Iverson leads the singing from the piano and his wife, Sarah Deming, composed the lyrics. The music is included but, a word of warning - it's in the concert key of E major (5 sharps).
The Eternal Verities was inspired by Iverson's mother-in-law sitting on the porch contemplating the eternal verities.
She Won't Forget Me is the proposed title for a rom-com he is planning to write. If the dialogue turns out to be as good as the music then tune in!
For Ellen Raskin. Raskin wrote The Westing Game, a complex mystery novel, and Iverson's tribute is not without a few twists and turns itself as it builds to a climactic, albeit gentle, ending.
Blue is the only non-Iverson composition on the album - DeJohnette pulled this one out from his archives dating back to the early 1970s.
Goodness Knows has influences as diverse as Fats Waller, Monk and Jason Moran.
Had I But Known is a lyrical, almost Chopinesque by way of Bill Evans, piece that has a melancholic feel.
Merely Improbable - a boppy workout over some rhythm changes - driven along by LG and JD.
Praise Will Travel suggests that compliments create a better karma than criticism - well that's what the man says and I'm not arguing.
At the Bells and Motley - the title lifted from an Agatha Christie short story - is actually an extended blues that has all three musicians at the top of their game with DeJohnette and Iverson taking the much-maligned "fours" to a higher level than is usually the case.
Well worth checking out - release date is this Saturday (Feb. 19) on Blue Note - Lance
No comments :
Post a Comment