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- Impressions of Coltrane<\/span><\/span><\/a> — Khan Jamal <\/span>(SteepleChase) — 2 stars — Vibes master Jamal has the rhythm and lyricism to do justice to Coltrane’s beautiful, indelible melodies — “Naima,” “Afro-Blue” and “Impressions” among them. His fellow rarely-heard Philadelphian outcats<\/a>, saxophonists Odean Pope <\/span>and Byard Lancaster<\/span>, each get guest tracks, and it’s good to hear them, but otherwise it’s all vibes-piano-bass-drums, a format I’m usually a sucker for, but I can’t get with this rhythm section. Pianist Farid Barron<\/span> is capable and creative, but bassist Curtis Lundy<\/span> has a very elastic sense of time and veteran drummer Edgar Bateman<\/span>, 78 when this session was cut in January ’08, is to my ear always half a beat behind where I want to hear it, and I’m not syncing up with where it is<\/span>. Jamal forebears, best on “One Up One Down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Talu –<\/span><\/span>– Alberto Braida<\/span><\/a> (NuScope) — 2 stars — Spontaneously improvised solo piano exploiting the nuances, dynamic and timbral, of a Fazioli <\/a>piano, presumably a very fine instrument. Annotator Francesco Martinelli <\/a><\/span>insightfully identifies Italian Braida as a “Monkian” pianist whose “sense of horizontal development is influenced by Webern.” I find the narrative flow choppy (like Webern, here<\/a> played by Glenn Gould)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n