Jeff Holmes Quartet, Of One's Own

Monk, Jarrett, meet Jeff Holmes, a pianist who is related to you. He is carrying on with a quartet, on an album Of One's Own (Miles High 8621). He has grasped the essence of what you guys are about, and is taking it someplace of his own.

The quartet is up to the challenge. Adam Kolker plays tenor, soprano and bass clarinet in a modern zone, sometimes functioning as Garbarek and Dewey R did in the old Jarrett quartets, but with a personal sound, again of his own. James Cammack on acoustic and electric bass and Steve Johns on drums propel the band to swing or do the straight-eight as needed. The solos are crafted well, the originals very good, and Jeff Holmes plays some excellent piano here.

This is a pianist to watch, to hear, to look forward to again. And this album captivates.

Matthew Shipp, Greatest Hits

Late next month, Matthew Shipp will release a Greatest Hits (Thirsty Ear 57205.2) compilation covering some of his best work from 2000 to the present. Eleven albums are represented.

And listening to this compendium makes at least one thing clear (if not many things): Matthew Shipp has been a critical force in the new jazz not by holding steady to the same routines and patterns that have made for new jazz orthodoxy, but by opening up to the sounds around him, by not following trends, but by making trends follow him.

So we have not only Matthew Shipp the masterful, innovative pianist, but also Matthew Shipp the composer, the conceptual innovator.

Listen to "Cohesion," by his trio of the time of William Parker and Gerald Cleaver, plus Khan Jamal on vibes and Flam on synths/programming. The drums have that drums n' bass sound--very funky but also electronically worked over. Yet listening to the piece you do not feel that this is Shipp gone commercial, any more than Trane's quartet sounded that way doing "Chim Chim Cheree." It's Matthew Shipp incorporating new elements into his music--but it's always foremost his music and not anyone else's, by any standards.

So throughout the compilation you get solo piano, trios, and larger configurations, fascinating to hear broken into a more-or-less chronological sequence. It's Shipp the pianist at the top of his conceptual game, the artist free to create with the great players he has surrounded himself with, free to evolve his direction as he sees fit.

That, as the late Sam Rivers defined it, is what "free" is about. The artist is free to follow what path he or she chooses, where the music swings, takes it out into open air, or works within hip-hop/funk/rock rhythmic feels, or records with a large orchestra. Listening to the thirteen years of music making so nicely represented on this disk, you feel that Matthew Shipp has been true to himself, and what that is speaks truth to us all. This is important music, pianistically, group-wise, compositionally and conceptually.

So grab a copy next month if you don't know these sides!

Laszlo Gardony Gets Into Odd-Time Signatures and Pianistic Singularity on "Signature Time"

While you've been doing what ever you've been doing Hungarian-born pianist-composer-bandleader Laszlo Gardony has just completed his ninth album. Signature Time (Sunnyside 4011) is the name of it, which rightfully suggests that this is Laszlo's personal stylistic statement, and also that time signatures will be a factor. Both are quite true.

It's a goodly trio part of the time with Laszlo at the piano, John Lockwood on bass, and Yoron Israel at the drums. Tenorist Stan Strickland productively cameos with the group at key points.

Those are the preliminaries. Gardony's pianistic style is eclectic and well-executed. He is most effective expanding on a theme he has devised, working off of an ostinato, getting into an odd-time signature groove and using dynamics (in a post-Jamalistic way) to heighten a swinging feel.

I've mentioned the originals, which are appropriate vehicles. Then there are some quirky versions of various standards, the Beatles' "Lady Madonna" and "Eleanor Rigby;" Duke's "Johnny Come Lately," Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland" (done in four but sounding in it's own way like it's in an odd signature regardless!). So then not everything is irregular in meter. Things can and do swing or funk in regular time and that serves to contrast the various times well.

Stan Strickland sounds very good on his moments. Everyone is in the groove. Mr. Gardony does not sound like anyone's clone. And the music is quite good.