Martial Solal: Martial Solal Live in Ottobrunn

Bach wrote the Goldberg Variations, Beethoven wrote the Diabelli Variations. Martial Solal spent his life inventing variations which he played live in front of audiences.

His love of the great composers—Duke Ellington. Richard Rodgers, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and the 20th century classical masters—illuminated his playing.

Quite simply, Solal was one of the very greatest jazz pianists. His technique and his musical imagination were both breathtaking. The gap between the ideas and the fingers for most pianists is unbridgeable: for Solal there is no gap. The fertile mind invents variations and multiple rhythms. Solal is simply one of the greatest pianists to have graced jazz. He is in the pantheon with Art Tatum, Monk and Bud Powell.

Fortunately, Solal chose to play solo at Ottobrunn and that is the best way to appreciate his work. This concert was recorded on December 14, 2018, just a month before Solal's final concert in Paris. Like the final concert, it is difficult to believe that the playing was the work of a man in his nineties. Solal played with all the zest and exuberance of young man intent on establishing his reputation. His technique and his musical imagination were both breathtaking.

Solal's work demands that the listener listen intently. He compels attention. His repertoire is deliberately limited, rather like Lee Konitz, largely restricted to standards. How many times has he played "Round Midnight"? Hundreds? At least. His facility and invention can seem like cleverness but it is more than that. He parades his variations not to be clever but so that we can share his joy and delights as he finds other avenues in the tune to explore. Note the use of the left hand which explores darker sonorities as he almost seems to lose the theme. Not that he does. Solal is not one of those pianists who refer to a theme at the beginning and then a reprise at the end. The theme is there throughout, sometimes hiding in a thicket, sometimes cleverly disguised, a musical sleight of hand, but it is always there. He will use classical techniques; he will pull in shades of Bartok, Debussy, Ravel to overlay on Ray Noble's "Cherokee."

The challenge from Solal is clear. He credits the audience with sophistication. He seems to say to the audience, "Here is the theme. You probably know it, you have heard it before. Now listen as I improvise on the theme. You can judge the quality of my improvisation because you know exactly what I am doing, how innovative I am. You can hear the variations, judge the quality of the variations." One critic commented that "while Solal's later recordings could be overly rendered to mask a song's original melodies, especially on standards," but they seemed not to realize that was all part of Solal's method.

Solal was an artist. He deconstructed a tune or theme and rearranged the component parts just as Braque and Picasso did with painting, enabling multiple viewpoints. Picasso created his own 45 variations on "Las Meninas," a painting by Velazquez, his graphic improvisations paying homage to the original painter. Solal has created many versions of Ellington pieces like "Caravan," deepening our understanding of the pieces and Ellington.

It is important to remember that Solal liked to joke. Sometimes, he would joke verbally with the audience. He was also happy to create musical jokes. Jazz can be pompous, taking itself too seriously: Listen to "Brother Jack" or "Happy Birthday" as the fugues roll out.

Avoidance of the cliche was Solal's constant quest, and he does avoid them throughout his concert in Ottobrunn. This delightful album is a triumph. It is beautifully recorded and will be evidence for future generations.

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