Review of Poesia by Michael G. Nastos
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9/7/2010 5:57:57 PM - When one looks at and then hears the growing discography of pianist
Edward Simon, you have to marvel at his consistently high level of
brilliant musicianship. He's one of the better melodic inventors in
modern jazz, whose ideas flow like a river, onward and upward. Simon's
recordings in the piano-bass-drums format have been as good as any in
recent years, and on Poesia he takes into account the beauty of things
either unseen or rarely noticed. As art and poetry are major direct or
implied components in jazz, Simon has chosen to take a larger notice of
them in this beautifully rendered original music, telepathically
assisted by the peerless team of electric and acoustic bassist John
Patitucci with drummer Brian Blade, a pair he has played with prior.
The music clearly has a rhapsodic quality, a broad usage of color
profiles, and a direct lineage to predecessors like Bill Evans, Keith
Jarrett, and his peer David Kikoski. There's but one cover, "Giant
Steps," that does not sound at all like the John Coltrane classic, but
instead is completely deconstructed, reassembled, torn down, and again
built from the ground up in a thought-provoking, command performance by
this trio. Into the modal end of things, Simon starts "Triumph" as a
dancing, exotic motif that is constantly shifting and musically
evolving, while a 6/8 time signature underscores its heavy frame.
"Intention" has the same type of foundation in 7/8, but is churning and
much darker, unlike most of the pianists other work. Tumbling phrases
seemingly from all 88 keys identify the streaming, rushing format of
the title track, "One for J.P." is sheer delight in its funk and quirk
with Patitucci's electric bass guitar as a chatty sidebar, while the
more evocative pieces are the gentle, snowfall inferences and ballet
figurines of "Winter," or Simon's two-part, solemn, humble, intimate,
solo piano musings on "My Love for You" which bookend the CD. It would
be easy to say that Edward Simon is mellowing with age, but perhaps it
is that looking inward is more appealing than outwardly trying to
please the masses. That's a good thing, especially considering he can
do just about anything he chooses with his awe-inspiring talent to make
an acoustic piano sing.
~ Michael G. Nastos |
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