Kerry Politzer: Alternate Route

A first impression as pianist Kerry Politzer's ninth album spins: This is an artist adept at bringing a band together for a one-day studio outing to play a bunch of her forward-leaning compositions to turn out a vibrant, crisp-sounding set. Obvious also, on tune # 1—"Before It's Too Late"—is that guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel has a special genius for pairings with pianists. He proved that with his contribution to Jo-Yu Chen's Stranger (Okeh Records, 2014), and he is in the mix with another top-notch keyboardist here on three tunes on Politzers' Alternate Route.

George Colligan is on board—in the drummer's chair—though he, like his life partner Politzer, is a top-notch pianist. The disc's title refers to travels; a constant in any jazz artist's existence. Based in Portland, Oregon, the logistics of recording in New York involved arranging 48-plus hours of childcare, flying across the continent, and laying down the recording in one day. The results reveal a well-crafted intensity, beginning with "Before It's Too Late" with Rosenwinkel injecting some zing in front of Politzer's astute sparkle. Her solo is a high-energy segment that tapers down to a delicate elocution. Rosenwinkel comes back, then, and rips.

If the opener celebrated Politzers love of all sounds Brazilian, "Stopped At A Green Light" is described as "a quirkily eccentric rhumba," with the saxophonist, Jaleel Shaw, tearing it up. The lone non-original of the set—Politzer wrote the rest of the tunes—is "Storm Warning," penned by Harry South. Colligan supplies an insistent New Orleans-style groove. And since Brazil has been mentioned, we have samba with "No Present Like The Time." And since intensity has been mentioned, we have "Intensity," with a zesty momentum and another intricate Politzer solo.

Politzer closes with a poignant piano solo, an ode to a departed friend. Sad, but also solemn and uplifting—a fine wrap-up to a terrific album.