Gordon Lee: How Can It Be?

Oregon-based pianist Gordon Lee leads a trim quartet through its paces on his seventh album, How Can It Be?, written for the most part during the Covid pandemic and recorded shortly afterward, in October 2022.

Before recording, Lee had worked often with tenor saxophonist Renato Caranto and bassist Dennis Caiazza. Drummer Gary Hobbs, "imported" from Washington state to replace the late Carlton Jackson, to whom the album is dedicated, proves a splendid complement to the group.

Lee's nine compositions lean heavily on soul-searching, starting with the earnest title track and continuing with the pensive "Hypatia" (named for a philosopher and mathematician murdered by religious fanatics in Alexandria, Egypt, in the fifth century AD) and a spiraling "Angry Mother Nature" before striking a more congenial note on "A Robin Weeps," whose melodic core is awash in sunshine and gladness.

The upbeat mood holds sway on "Show Pain" (based on a nocturne by the Polish classical composer Frederic Chopin) and well- grooved "Shaky Assets," which all but shouts "come dance with me." The elegiac "Too Soon," written for the group's fallen comrade, drummer Carlton Jackson, is next, followed by the album's best-named tune, "Bozo Sulks on the Golf Course," a light-hearted sprint that lampoons a recent unnamed (but decidedly orange-colored) U.S president. As if to make up for lost ground, the quartet lets it all hang out on the boisterous "'Deed I Did It!," a fast-paced restatement of the standard "'Deed I Do."

This is an album whose ardent passion defines its early moments before happiness takes its cue and guides it to a more playful finish. Lee is an accomplished and eloquent pianist, Caranto a dependable sidekick, while Caiazza and Hobbs are a tasteful and sure-handed rhythmic team. An above-average quartet session whose special moments enhance its charm.