Album Reviews

From the second the stylus hits the…er I mean the laser hits the pits, you'll know this is a stunning sounding live recording of a jazz trio. You'll feel as if you're in the Up Over Jazz Café, where this set was brilliantly recorded by Kato Hideki.

The room's space and the stage placement will immediately become apparent, so surefooted is the recording. The piano is situated stage-left, the bass and drums center-stage.The recording resembles the Bill Evans Village Vanguard recordings, which includes, of course, “Waltz For Debby.” That's how good it is.

It will take but a few minutes into the smoldering opening tune, Andy Gonzalez's “Vieques,” to connect with the vibrant, expressive trio of pianist Arturo O'Farrill, drummer Dafnis Prieto and veteran bassist Andy Gonzales.

Son of the late jazz drummer Chico O'Farrill, and child of the classic rock era, Arturo O'Farrill's manages to combine the aggressive intensity of rock, with the rhythmic and harmonic virtuosity of jazz, expressing it all through a Latin sensibility. O' Farrill can be introspective, intricate and delicate like Bill Evans, or adventurous and sometimes humorous like Carla Bley. He can pound the keys exuberantly, blocking chords with great majesty and clarity, and he can elicit the most profound, reflective emotions with but a few notes.



Prieto, the youngster in the group, plays aggressively and directly, while still maintaining a jazz drummer's delicate touch and range of colors. His style perfectly compliments O'Farrill's, and the two speak to each other like Evans and Motian. Gonzales is spare and nimble- laid back and economical on the ballads and edgy when the tunes pack heat.

Aside from the Gonzales original that opens the set, the tunes are covers of pieces by Carla Bley (two), Monk, Ellington, Wayne Shorter and Horace Silver, but all are taken in inventive, often surprising arrangements. For instance, the closer, Monk's familiar “Well You Needn't,” goes from being an angular, spiky wry number, to one with decidedly more flow and an unexpected tropical flavor. Prieto's drum solo will keep you guessing and ends with a punch line.

The first Bley cover, the whimsical, impressionistic “Walking Batterie Woman,” shows off O'Farrill's considerable physical skills and his sense of humor. The gymnastics are followed by Horace Silver's gorgeous “Peace,” which has a distinctly Bill Evans Trio feel about it. The second Bley cover, “Utviklinsang,” a cinematic, impressionistic piece filled with melancholy and perhaps regret, communicates Mr. O'Farrill's emotional skills, while the Ellington cover, “In A Sentimental Mood,” is given a slow deliberate and expansive ride that never loses track of the melody.

It's a set you can savor repeatedly both for the music and the stunning sound, which is spacious, dynamic, natural and exceedingly well-balanced tonally and especially spatially. You'll know you're in the presence of a sonic special within seconds. Why can't all CDs sound this good?