Zachary Bartholomew: Balancing Act

Miami-based jazz pianist Dr. Zachary Bartholomew is an award-winning musician, composer and educator at Florida Memorial University with a breadth of musical performances with such luminaries as the late Kevin Mahogany, John Beasley, David Liebman, Brian Lynch, Dafnis Prieto and Dave Holland among others. What Bartholomew had not done until this album is produce a recording of his own as leader. Balancing Act is the pianist's debut album after six years in the planning, and what a recording it is. Infused with African American and Afro-Cuban rhythms and highly influenced by European classical music, the repertoire delivers an impressive musical statement cementing a firm foundation to build on.

Assembling an all-star list of players is another ingredient making this plate of musical desert so delicious. Bartholomew's quintet rounds out the rhythm section to include Chicago native Marty Quinn, one of the most sought-after bassists on the Miami scene, and Costa Rican drummer, composer and educator Rodolfo Zuniga, originally based in Miami and now teaching on the west coast. Veteran Miami-based saxophonist and educator David Fernandez provides one-half of the sparkling reed section, with Benny Benack III blowing up a storm on the trumpet. In all, the pianist brings together one of the most exciting and swinging quintets in the business.

The album features ten original Bartholomew compositions with an alternate trio version of the opening "Crazy Socks" as a bonus. The swinging opener features Benack's trumpet and the leader's solos as the entire band weighs in on a tune inspired by Bartholomew's student's comments on the teacher's choice of socks. The classically-bent "Sunny Days Driven By," is a light and beautiful number showcasing the pianist's chops on the keys on nine-minutes of pure pleasure. There is no noise on the boppish "Bring the Noise;" it is the leader's oldest compositions and another turbulent tune.

Saxophonist Fernandez is pronounced on the energetic "Hobo's Lullaby," delivering steady grooves and bass line moments that make this composition so engaging, with Zuniga's pounding and cymbal splashes bringing one into the music. The title track is an intricate composition purposely placed in the middle of the set to convey the "constant struggle of attempting to balance work..." with everything else in life.

" The Long and Winding Road," "Time Apart" and "There and Back Again" are all musical expressions of the leader's personal experiences conveyed through rhythmic and harmonic changes forged in distinctly different sounds. "Mirror Image" and the lengthy ten-minute finale of the original tunes "Midnight Nefarity" closes out the set with an encore performance of the opening tune finishing off a stellar musical journey.

There are many debut recordings becoming part of the jazz landscape every year but leave one with the urge for more. Balancing Act is such an album featuring pianist Zachary Bartholomew's talents as a composer that carry the day in expectations for a future recording well worth considering.