Frank Kimbrough Quartet

I have been following pianist Frank Kimbrough's work with interest, both on these blogs (as a sideman) and when I wrote for Cadence. His latest is simply titled Frank Kimbrough Quartet (Palmetto).

Kimbrough is a pianist with an original sense and good compositions. Here he fronts an excellent quartet with associates he has played with in various contexts for some time. The ease with which they dig into the material shows us this. There is the formidable Steve Wilson on alto and soprano, Jay Anderson on bass and Lewis Nash on drums, names which need no introduction if you follow the music.

Kimbrough and associates lead us through a lively set of ten numbers, mostly originals, that vary from a post-Jarrettian gospel-tinged number to some rousing swingers, all showing the skills of the various artists in an excellent light.

Steve comes through with soul and nuance; Frank sounds inspired and the rhythm team of Anderson and Nash prevail with a model set of performances.

It is very much music in the spirit of the present, straightforward but complex and firey enough to keep you listening, contemporary in the best sense of the word. Recommended!

Leslie Pintchik, In the Nature of Things

Jazz. OK, what is it? One answer was formulated by Fats Waller, I believe, and essentially translated to "Never Mind. Shut up and listen and you'll hear what it is." Now that doesn't satisfy everybody but it nonetheless holds true today as much as ever. I could throw around some definitions but not today, not here.

Better to listen, because that's what the definitions would then imply. If you don't listen closely and repeatedly, no words will help. So what is jazz? One answer is the album today. Pianist-composer Leslie Pintchik and her ensemble put together a new program of music you could profitably hear to help you on your way to a mental construct of "jazz". It's called In the Nature of Things (Pintch Hard 002). We've covered another of hers here if you want to look that up.

Well this is modern jazz, not so much commercial (which to me would be a negative most of the time) as current. Leslie is at the piano, Steve Wilson presides often enough on alto and soprano saxes, Ron Horton brings his trumpet and flugelhorn, Scott Hardy is on acoustic bass, Michael Sarin on drums, and Satoshi Takeishi on percussion.

They do one standard for the measure and the rest are Pintchik originals. These are well-made. They have chord changes of interest which Leslie and company solo over with skill and finesse. The head melodies are fetching and well-voiced for the ensemble. Leslie has a harmonically rich, rhythmically lively piano style that bears your ear-attention, most definitely.

It is a pleasure, a treat to hear. And you know what? It's like jazz, you dig? As in blow (your horn). It's a good example of the middle-ground today.