- Joey Alexander: piano
- Larry Grenadier: acoustic bass
- Kendrick Scott: drums
- Luisito Quintero: percussion (1,4,10)
- Anne Drummond: flute (7,12)
I’m always happy when Joey Alexander releases another recording. His career seems to be progressing incredibly well, and he’s even starting to lose the baby-face and look like the teenager that he is. This recording features 10 of his original compositions and 2 standards. He clearly had a very deep well of creativity when it comes to composing. As for his piano playing, well what can I say? He’s incredible and appears to be maintaining his awesome ability to avoid cliches of any sort. He always seems to have an original and profound musical thought for each moment.
Another unique thing about this recording is the mic-ing technology. I don’t have any specific technical information but the result is a distinct 3D sound that enveloped me in a 360 degree sphere of music. Of course, this is the kind of stuff that my Magnapan speakers excel at, but even so, it was quite engaging. Much of the sound originates from points directly to my left and right, and sometimes even behind me. Now I should be clear; it isn’t a very realistic sound stage. In someways it’s almost as if the listener is placed right in the middle of the drum set. Snare and some cymbals are coming from my left and other drums and cymbals originate from my right. The same goes for the piano. It’s as if the listener is seated in Joey’s lap. Left hand keys come from forward-left and right hand keys from forward-right. Realistic or not, it definitely draws you in!
Warna, the title track is uptempo with exciting percussion and a distinctly positive vibe. Mocaic is a laid back ballad that just makes you want to sit back and soak it all in. Lonely Streets is also in a mellow mood with a walking bass line that swings. Downtime picks up the tempo again with a happy sounding chord progression and the added energy of Quintero on percussion. Affirmation I is a pensive ballad piano solo. Inner Urge is the first standard, a Joe Henderson composition that builds from mid-tempo to uptempo, with a sparse bass solo, a burning piano solo and a long drum solo. We Here is the first tune featuring Anne Drummond on flute, where she takes the opening melody followed by a solo. Tis Our Prayer has a regal sort of church sound but doesn’t really go anywhere even though it sounds like it’s building up to something big. In contrast, Fragile (a Gordon Sumner “aka Sting” tune) has a pop-like chord progression and at first I thought it was about to morph into Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”. Of course Alexander’s rendition doesn’t sound much like Sting! Our Story is an unusual combination of jumpy drums with a slow moving piano melody and groovy chord progression. Affirmation III (not sure where II went…) begins as a piano solo again but then the rest of the trio join in and it gets pretty lively by the end. The closing number is The Light, another ballad featuring Drummond on the flute again. All in all, this is a very pleasing listen and I just hope Alexander keeps making great music and sharing it with us.
Jim's Jazz Notes 