Randy Ingram: Sound Within

A sobriquet that could be applied to the pianist Bill Evans is "the poet of the jazz piano," as he more than almost any other pianist combined technical mastery with emotional restraint, creating music that feels introspective rather than demonstrative. Every pianist who has ever fallen under Evans' spell has eventually faced the same dilemma. One choice leads to imitation, while the other leads to finding your own voice, carrying Evans' influence. Randy Ingram has wisely chosen the latter, and Sound Within: A Celebration of Bill Evans is all the more compelling because of it.

Across the nine tracks in this release, the featured songs are connected to Evans and resonate in meaningful ways, alongside original compositions by Ingram that reflect the pianist's profound impact on the music. Ingram is not borrowing Evans' vocabulary so much as speaking a language he has created in his own right. Having drummer Joe La Barbera and bassist Rufus Reid, both of whom experienced Evans' music from the inside, beside him gives the project historical weight.

Ingram begins "Turn Out The Stars" alone, lingering over the melody before La Barbera and Reid enter quietly. The move into 5/4 is gently nudged, a subtle shift that makes you hear one of Evans' most familiar compositions with fresh ears. "My Foolish Heart" may forever be associated with Evans, yet Ingram refuses to wrap it in nostalgia. Beneath the beautiful melody lies a surprisingly turbulent current, lending the performance unexpected emotional complexity and making it feel less nostalgic.

George Russell's "Ezz-Thetic" is a welcome addition, giving the trio room to loosen its collar. Ingram attacks the angular lines with confidence, while La Barbera delivers a snap, crackle, pop display of his drumming skills, reminding us that he is one of jazz's top practitioners. One of the album's more captivating moments arrives with "For All We Know." Ingram's unaccompanied introduction is so quietly mesmerizing and breathtakingly intimate that Reid and La Barbera seem to almost materialize from the piano's resonance rather than simply enter the performance.

Sprinkled throughout the release are three Ingram compositions, which ultimately tell us the most about both musicians. Beginning with "Aloft," which seems suspended in air on Ingram's delicate touch. Its graceful lines drift effortlessly while never losing direction. The title track is "Sound Within," which reaches beyond Evans, broadening the conversation. The spacious harmonic landscape hints at the sounds of composers along the lines of Kenny Wheeler, suggesting how one generation hands off ideas to the next.

By the time "Remembrance" closes the album, there is no sense of finality, only a quiet acknowledgement that great musicians never really leave us. They continue to speak through artists willing to search honestly for their own voice.