Gerard D'Angelo Trio: Not What My Hands Have Done

This album recorded in May of 1993 has finally emerged from the Mapleshade label's vaults to be released eight years later in 2001. Why it took so long to see the light of day is a puzzler. Brooklyn born pianist Gerard D'Angelo has been on the jazz scene since 1988 when he teamed with Dave Meade and Frank Wagoner to form Primary Colors. He made an album or two with the group. But until this release, D'Angelo has been pretty much a stranger to recording studios. Although he was a student of one of the leaders of modern jazz piano, D'Angelo shows the influence of many who have gone before him, from Bill Evans through Chick Corea to Keith Jarrett. He is also a follower of another modernist, Gary Dial, whom D'Angelo honors by including four of his compositions on the play list. D'Angelo is a mainly quiet player, introspective and giving the impression that a good deal of thought has gone into every note he strikes. This attitude permeates the session which lasts for a little more than an hour. Even on up tempo pieces such as Dial's "Funkalero", there is a delicacy present to make sure that while the group swings, it doesn't swing out of control. A state of calmness also sways the contributions of bassist Jay Anderson and Jeff Hirshfield's drums on this cut. One of the most engaging pieces coming from the session is the trio's take on Maurice Ravel's "Forlane". Playing with that luminous precision which seemed to characterize Ravel's music (as well as his own work on piano), this is a tour de force track. "I'll Take Romance" as much as any of the cuts on the album, recalls Bill Evans' seminal trios of the 1960's. Based on this effort, one hopes this doesn't fall into the category as the title of one of the songs on the program, a "One Shot Deal".