Lullabluebye

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Music reviews of Lullabluebye

Music Review: More deep magic from Palmetto
Rating: 5 Stars

Lately we've had Bobby Previte's best in a long time, Counterclockwise; Marty Ehrlich's great Line on Love; the wonderful Frahm/Mehldau duo, Don't Explain; Fred Hersch's slick Trio + Two; David Berkman's nifty Start There, Finish Here . . .

. . . and now, the best of the lot, Lullabluebye.

The first thing that strikes me about this entirely remarkable disc is how Kimbrough imbues the simplest materials (e.g., "Kid Stuff") with a deep, dancing magic. The last jazz pianist to do this in my memory was Vince Guaraldi--though Kimbrough sounds nothing like him and is a player of far greater depth and subtlety.

In many ways, this is even a greater accomplishment than Kimbrough's previous disc, the astounding Quickening. Less expressionistic, more introspective, it advances his mastery of the piano trio up to the very top echelon in the history of recorded jazz music. Right now, I'd have to say Frank Kimbrough is, hands down, my favorite jazz pianist.

This trio, I think, is even better than the great one featured on Quickening. The peerless Ben Allison returns to the bass chair, once again proving he's among the absolute best on his instrument. His uncanny suppleness, linked to a profound swing and savvy understatement, stamp him as world class. I especially like that he eschews the facile histrionics endemic to so many contemporary jazz bassists. Matt Wilson, practically the house drummer for Palmetto, occupies the drums chair. I'd not particular thought of him previously as a master of subtlety, but here he produces some of the tastiest stylings ever from a jazz drummer. Check out especially his work on the thoroughly mesmeric "Ghost Dance," as well as the more extroverted "Fu Bu," thoroughly in the spirit of the late, lamented Jazz Messengers leader, who, one imagines, is slyly referenced in the tune's title. Amazingly, leader Kimbrough seems to have grown immensely even since his last release. There's such an ease of expression, an ability to always find the exact sensibility any tune or passage calls for--and to effortlessly pull it off. Really, I don't know why this man isn't among the bestselling jazz artists recording today. He's the whole package. The moods alone he creates, from deepest introspection to dramatic expressionism, make this disc a must-hear. His touch in the year interval or so from Quickening has become even surer, defter, and more persuasive.

Besides being one of the most technically accomplished jazz pianists ever--just listen how he's so in tune with the music as to never allow shallow virtuosity to interfere with intimate conversation and beauty of line--Kimbrough's certainly one of the superior pianist/composers/arrangers on the scene today. For example, he's got this uncanny ability to, almost, it seems, whip off tunes that sound amazingly like standards ("Centering," "Ode," "Ghost Dance"). His reconfiguration of the closest thing to a standard on this disc--"You Only Live Twice"--astounds. Turned into a lazy, casual-sounding samba, it first seems to lack the romance/risk--not to mention the rigor/drama--of the original, but those sensibilities lurk just below the surface instilling this somewhat slight tune with an entirely apposite (though scarcely obvious) insouciant wistfulness thoroughly jibing with Bond in his Autumn years.

Don't let the fact that this disc generally avoids the bombastic approach of, say, The Bad Plus, or the Next Big Thing hype of, say E.S.T., put you off. Secretly contained in these grooves is some of the smartest, most engaging, and just thoroughly listenable jazz ever put to record.

The first drop-everything-and-get-it-NOW jazz album of the year.

Description of Lullabluebye

Jazz CDs

• Music > Styles
• Miscellaneous
• Pop