Marc Copland: Nightfall

Elementally essential, Marc Coplandlate career resurgence/reemergence/renaissance continues undaunted with NightFall, the pianist's first all solo full length since Alone (Pirouet, 2010).

In that span, some may have argued there's a huge head-space between Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett and some may have not, but either way Marc Copland commands the foreground.

Scott LaFaro's moody elegy "Jade Visions" opens Nightfall with a challenging, yet infinitely knowing re-imagining, conjuring both Evans and LaFaro while sitting alone with his piano. The airy title track rings with Jarrett-like abandon and lyricism. "String Thing," another original, is dominated by the calm thunder of the pianist's left hand as his right seeks out and finds colorful scattered showers of melody. Copland then takes on "Vignette," the quiet triumph of another visionary bassist, Gary Peacock, with a captivating and spontaneous performance.

Never afraid to sit alone and abide with his second instrument (Copland began his career, many moons ago and under a different name, as a saxophonist), NightFall is his finest solo moment. For now. For one senses, in the boundless energy of John Abercrombie's "Another Ralph," that the pianist's fascination for discovering just how deeply the piano sings as his art matures has only just begun.

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