Customer Reviews

Angel of the Presence

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From the liner notes:
"...how can I tell you that he's one of the greatest and most creative jazz pianists in the world?". -John Surman.

Recommended.

worthy successor to the British pianist's earlier collaboration with drummer Peter Erskine, which manifested in four albums for the German ECM label: "You Never Know" 1993, "Time Being" '94, "As It Is" '96, and "Juni" '99, all of which are true gems in their own rights. This CD is Taylor's first trio record under the Italian CamJazz label that were followed by two others so far: "Whirlpool" 2007 and "Requiem for a Dreamer" 2011, although this last one features saxophonist Julian Argüelles as well.
The present sublime set finds the kinetic, creative British Martin France (b. 1964) replacing P. Erskine at the drum kit, while the bassist has remained the same in the person of the Swedish Palle Danielsson. Their role goes way beyond simply supporting the pianist, who can take the performance virtually anywhere within the established stylistic boundaries, as they interact in a nuancely subtle manner akin to a telepathic gestalt entity.
The complex repertoire here includes sweepingly dynamic songs like those of Steve Swallow's #1 'up too late' and the playful #5 'vaguely Asian', as well as Taylor's #7 'afterthought' and the merry bright #3 'in Cologne'. Among the more philosophical pieces we have the spaciously deep #2 'dry stone' and the ethereal #6 'fable' (also audible on "Juni"/#6), both penned by the pianist. As usual, Kenny Wheeler compositions are also featured, this time being the brooding #4 'sweet Dulcinea' and the dreamy waltz #8 'intro to a no particular song' concluding this majestic offering.
Long-time musician friend, brassman John Surman informs us in the sleeve notes of the tragic event that John Taylor's wife passed away "a few weeks after this recording was made," a reference to which can be the album title and the computer generated illustration of her own make decorating the CD cover. Total time: 52.25 min. Heartily recommended.