Ambrose Akinmusire's opening set at the Jazz Standard on Friday showed some excitement and unease: a young trumpeter and composer still looking for, or maybe still rejecting, a style. The music wasnt quite there yet, and it wasn't clear just where “there" was. But the irresolution felt good enough for now.
It's clear that Mr. Akinmusire, 28, feels deeply for the jazz tradition as we all recognize it, particularly work from the 1960s and '70s. (His music keeps surging and shifting, but it's also smoothed-out and serene; some of the group language shared among Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter finds its way in there.) But it's also clear, especially from his newest ballads, that he's trying to figure out what part of the past, if any, is worth keeping.
He sounds terrific. He attacks intervals and short phrases, putting his strong, beautiful tone to work in original, sometimes discontinuous improvisation; trumpeters often love to show their lineage, but he didn't.
It's clear that Mr. Akinmusire, 28, feels deeply for the jazz tradition as we all recognize it, particularly work from the 1960s and '70s. (His music keeps surging and shifting, but it's also smoothed-out and serene; some of the group language shared among Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter finds its way in there.) But it's also clear, especially from his newest ballads, that he's trying to figure out what part of the past, if any, is worth keeping.
He sounds terrific. He attacks intervals and short phrases, putting his strong, beautiful tone to work in original, sometimes discontinuous improvisation; trumpeters often love to show their lineage, but he didn't.
