I belatedly decided to rush home form work last night and see pianist Aaron Parks's trio with Ben Street and Billy Hart perform at the Turner Sims. The concert was really poorly attended and many people in the audience had decided to see the gig on the strength of the drummer. To be honest, Billy Hart gave a master-class and was the best thing about the trio - both more his supreme musicianship and taste as well as his enthusiasm for working with two younger musicians.
The repertoire was varied with the first half being programed and the second consisting of standards called out by the pianist including "Tenderly", "Airegin" , "Body and soul" and Charlie Parker's "Cheryl." Some of the originals worked better than others and I was more impressed by Parks' ability with ballads as opposed to the up-tempo performances where I think his style of playing did not dig in and swing enough for me. The consensus after the gig was favourable although there were comments about Parks being more conservative and restrained than expected. The billing of "ECM recording artist" can be a prelude to be underwhelming in a live setting yet Parks was perhaps slightly more exuberant than some of the pianists preferred by Eicher. However, I didn't feel that Parks had his own style. Parts of his playing recalled Corea and Jarrett although he sometimes sounded like the more conservative Bill Charlap. You could hardly describe his music as "contemporary" but the way his phrasing skated over the rhythm was indicative of the current fashion amongst many of today's younger pianists where the newer generations of pianists are increasingly unlikely to yield another McCoy Tyner or Don Pullen with a muscular and driving approach to soloing. I'd seen Parks previously around 200/9 when he was signed to Blue Note and not been over-impressed. This concert seemed to witness a maturing artist and one less in the thrall of Brad Mehldau yet there were large moments when the piano failed to grab the attention with Hart's drumming increasingly revealing a mismatch between the men and the boys. I much preferred the last group I saw featuring Billy Hart and maybe the post-Coltrane / freer approach of Chico Freeman more squarely captured the kind of jazz that I increasingly prefer these days.
The repertoire was varied with the first half being programed and the second consisting of standards called out by the pianist including "Tenderly", "Airegin" , "Body and soul" and Charlie Parker's "Cheryl." Some of the originals worked better than others and I was more impressed by Parks' ability with ballads as opposed to the up-tempo performances where I think his style of playing did not dig in and swing enough for me. The consensus after the gig was favourable although there were comments about Parks being more conservative and restrained than expected. The billing of "ECM recording artist" can be a prelude to be underwhelming in a live setting yet Parks was perhaps slightly more exuberant than some of the pianists preferred by Eicher. However, I didn't feel that Parks had his own style. Parts of his playing recalled Corea and Jarrett although he sometimes sounded like the more conservative Bill Charlap. You could hardly describe his music as "contemporary" but the way his phrasing skated over the rhythm was indicative of the current fashion amongst many of today's younger pianists where the newer generations of pianists are increasingly unlikely to yield another McCoy Tyner or Don Pullen with a muscular and driving approach to soloing. I'd seen Parks previously around 200/9 when he was signed to Blue Note and not been over-impressed. This concert seemed to witness a maturing artist and one less in the thrall of Brad Mehldau yet there were large moments when the piano failed to grab the attention with Hart's drumming increasingly revealing a mismatch between the men and the boys. I much preferred the last group I saw featuring Billy Hart and maybe the post-Coltrane / freer approach of Chico Freeman more squarely captured the kind of jazz that I increasingly prefer these days.
Comment