Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Bob Szajner Triad II: Live at the Detroit Montreux Jazz Festival
Bob Szajner Triad II: Live at the Detroit Montreux Jazz Festival
In his piano solos Szajner swings with a calm, urbane feel, like Erroll Garner on a day off. At other times, his sound recalls a later Bill Evans being pushed by a more conventionally swinging band. The rhythmic feel is in place throughout, supplying the listener with confidence: you're in the presence of someone who knows the music here.
The members of his trio follow suit, playing in the style of the era. Frank Isola mildly inflects his percussion with a Tony Williams-esque pop sensibility on the ride cymbal, staying mostly within the realm of early sixties drumming. Ed Pickens plays upright with the broad, warm sound most popular with bassists at the time.
Szajner's compositions are entertaining pieces without being novel. Both harmonically and rhythmically, he has engineered scaffoldings that swing hard without demanding too much from the listener. The album's project is something of a pastiche, with songs emulating the styles of a variety of influences, from Bill Evans to McCoy Tyner. Throughout, though, the pianist retains the same energy, never fully copying another's technique, and returning repeatedly to the conventions of seventies jazz harmony.
Several of the pieces offer a kind of promise, when imagined in another setting. "Shadows" draws equal parts from the slick, pentatonic blues of Stanley Turrentine and the laid-back minor swing of "Stolen Moments." One can envision the richness that might be added to a composition like this if played by an ensemble with horns.
Although one could hope for higher sound qualitythe recordings balance at times leaves something to be desiredthere's a distinct ambience to this concert. Outdoors, late summer, casual, but clearly enjoyed by the audience, the Szajner Triad provides a pleasant, breezy kind of jazz.
Track Listing
For Evans Sake; Pause for Hawes; Three Four Montreux; Just a Touch Up; Prayer Meetin'; Travesty; Isolation; Shadows; Class Conscious; Simple as That; Unreal McCoy.
Personnel
The Bob Szajner TRIAD II
pianoBob Szajner: piano; Ed Pickens: bass; Frank Isola: drums.
Album information
Title: Live at the Detroit Montreux Jazz Festival | Year Released: 2008 | Record Label: Cadence Jazz Records
Comments
About The Bob Szajner TRIAD II
Instrument: Piano
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar To