Here a couple of recent jazz releases of mostly standards — one all new, the other a re-release of a classic.
Pianist Noah Haidu keeps going from strength to strength. For the third entry in his fabulous Standards series he has put together a masterful program that deftly mixes actual standards with originals and a surprise pop cover.
This time out Haidu continues his collaboration with the legendary rhythm section of bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart on nearly half of the 11 tunes, while also debuting a new trio configuration with a rising New York rhythm section of Gervis Myles and Charles Goold. And Haidu brings in saxophonist Steve Wilson from the previous two outings on a track or two, and features special guests Peter Washington and Lewis Nash on one with Wilson. Thing is, it doesn’t play like an album featuring a rotating cast of rhythm sections, as Haidu holds it together with his sterling interpretations and improvs.
There’s a solid core of three songs at the heart of the program that I’ve kept on repeat for a couple of weeks now. Haidu’s uptempo modern bop “Slipstream” is the one that features Nash, Washington and Wilson, with Wilson’s expressive alto immediately taking the driver’s seat. When Wilson finally yields, Haidu gets to show off his fast right hand chops. Throughout this one, Nash and Washington push the tempo ferociously.
That gives way to the surprise, a thoughtful, melodic cover of Chappell Roan’s downtempo, country-adjacent ballad “Casual.” Myles and Goold provide just the right touch to allow Haidu to explore the song’s subtly raw emotional palette. Plus it got me to listen to Chappell Roan for the first time, and y’know, the original is a hell of a song as well.
Then the coup de gras, an actual standard, Willard Robison’s “Old Folks,” memorably performed or recorded by Miles Davis, Bing Crosby, Benny Goodman, Fats Waller, Charlie Parker and many more. Buster Williams introduces it with a nearly two minute languid and melodic solo, and when Haidu drops the first chord … I don’t know about you, but I just melted. People talk about Bill Evans’s voicings, and Haidu to my ear finds similarly heart-tugging colors here. And Billy Hart, my goodness, his sensitive cymbal tickling lets me know that Jack DeJohnette was paying attention to Mr. Hart back when Jack was primarily a pianist.
The rest of the program is as good as you’d expect if you’ve been following this series. Standout selections from Jerome Kern (“Yesterdays”), Richard Rodgers (“Lover”), Duke Ellington (“Things Ain’t What They Used To Be”), Sammy Cahn (“Teach Me Tonight”), and a Haidu tribute to Stevie Wonder … what’s not to love?
[I also reviewed the Haidu trio’s Standards and Standards II.]
The John Abercrombie & Andy LaVerne duo project Timeline has been released on vinyl for the first time since its original CD release in 2003. It’s a consistently engaging program of standards, classics and originals, inspired by two 1966 releases by pianist Bill Evans and guitarist Jim Hall: Intermodulations and Undercurrent. Guitarist Abercrombie and pianist LaVerne have been collaborating since the late 1960s, and were inspired by those Evans-Hall recordings to experiment with the format.
“Over the years we have collaborated as a duo many times in concerts, club dates, workshop sessions,” LaVerne said in the original liner notes. “I guess Bill and Jim set a wonderful example to us of what could be achieved by the piano/guitar instrumentation.”
Any fans of jazz standards will love this music, as will those who appreciate inventive jazz guitar and piano, and especially the kind of honed yet intuitive interplay that Abercrombie and LaVerne display in this September 2002 date. It’s worth the price of admission alone to focus in on the opening tune, a peppy rendition of Richard Rodgers’s timeless “My Funny Valentine.” A real surprise to me is the beautiful “You Go To My Head,” Abercrombie’s lush tone a perfect fit on an arrangement that again is peppier than most you’ll renditions of this 1938 pop tune. That upbeat approach and this duo’s masterful transitions are perfect for “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You,” which might have been my first favorite from the American Songbook. Each takes a brief break solo on this one.
Abercrombie and LaVerne aren’t recreating or copying those two Evans-Hall albums more than using them as a jump-off point, although LaVerne does display a deep familiarity with Evans’s style and voicings in their version of Evans’s “Turn Out The Stars.”
With all of these standards, my favorite track is LaVerne’s composition “Inner Voice,” a warm and beautiful modern jazz piano tune that should become a standard in its own right.
This classic is definitely worth picking up in this new 180 gram vinyl release.
(Infinite Distances, 2025)
(SteepleChase, 2003/2025)
