Superlative piano trio music from Britain's John Taylor joined by American friends Marc Johnson and Joey Baron, and with a repertoire that includes original Taylor tunes, music by friends Kenny Wheeler and Ralph Towner, plus the evergreen "How Deep Is The Ocean"....
The British pianist combines a ruminative, restlessly probing manner with lightning changes of mood and tempo, where a sense of swing is never far away, however cerebral things might sound. Incredibly, despite having recorded for ECM for 25 years, this is Taylor's debut as a leader on the label. With such a lot of time to choose his musicians, Taylor has chosen well, and New Yorkers Marc Johnson on bass and Joey Baron on drums provide complementary foils for Taylor's customary interplay of rhythm and rhapsody; Johnson was also a bassist to Taylor's hero, Bill Evans, while Baron has the enviable ability, as Charlie Haden once said of Paul Motian, to make the drums sound like a musical instrument. It's a great record. - Phil Johnson, The Independent |