Customer Reviews

Evolution/Revolution

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This is the best new piano trio album I've heard in years. Bejerano has played in the quartets of Roy Haynes and Russell Malone, but here he's the leader. This outstanding cd includes four of his own compositions. "Blues Evolution" opens with furious energy and tight trio interplay, and "Blues Revolution" closes the album with intricate variations on the blues and excellent byplay between Bejerano and drummer Ludwig Alfonso. "Cubano Arrenpentido" starts pensively then plunges into an excellent bebop/Latin workout, ebbing and flowing, now surging, now reflective. "Truth & Illusions" is quieter, with a fine bass solo by Edward Perez and an attentive back-and-forth between him and Bejerano. There are also five standards, including a sparkling "Lover Man", thoroughly original yet faithful versions of Miles Davis's "Solar" and Bud Powell's "Bouncing with Bud", a smart solo take on "Monk's Dream" and the most beautiful version of "You Don't Know What Love Is" that this writer has ever heard. I've played it over and over, as I have the whole album. This is a very special debut and enthusiastic reviews in Jazz Times and on Allmusic agree. Get this cd! For my money, this guy is the best of the great new young piano players in jazz, and that includes Glasper, Eigsti, Eldar, Hiromi, Gilchrist, and others.

Pianist Martin Bejerano is one of a group of Latin-American musicians who are attracting a lot of attention. Martin Bejerano's playing reveals the double influence of the North American jazz piano tradition along with that of his Caribbean roots. He is a very fine pianist with an individual voice, and I recommend this album highly.