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|  | EARSHOT JAZZ Live Review July 2010 PART 2
| | As would prove his preferred method,
Peck introduced the set opener,
“Green Dolphin Street,” with a dramatic
solo improvisation. The opening
chord rang out and introduced Peck’s
harmonically complex, bittersweet
sound. Peck sings through the piano
with each key stroke, creating lyrical,
breathing melodies which develop
through subtle rhythmic tension. To
this listener, Peck expertly communicates
something of the plaintiveness of
love and the shared loneliness of life.
Yet if his music is mournful, it also
celebrates the loss, capturing much
beauty in the sadness.
Johnson and La Barbera contribute
major buoyancy to the music, and Peck
is clearly excited to share this emotional
terrain with his friends. And does it
swing! The band is deeply sympathetic
to Peck’s vision, and they play with the
joy and spontaneity afforded by a rich
musical relationship. As in the magnificent
coda to “Green Dolphin Street,”
the band eagerly pushes the music into
new, unexpected directions, while
maintaining the lush, intimate sound
that characterizes the music.
The band follows with “Bye Bye
Blackbird,” and again Peck’s effusive
unaccompanied improvisation gives
way to an up-tempo, ecstatic reading
by the band. In this La Barbera and
Johnson are masterful. La Barbera is a
nuanced and intensely musical player,
as impressive in tone and clarity as he
is rhythmically exciting. Johnson, of
course, is a veteran of the Seattle scene
and is a superb player and exceptional
listener. Johnson processes information
at incredible speeds, both supporting
and challenging the ensemble,
and is simply a pleasure to listen to and
watch perform. Peck generously shares
the solo space with his bandmates,
and the performances are stronger for
it. The trio appears to possess a strong
affection for one another and the music
being performed, occasionally stepping
back from the music as if to just
enjoy the moment before it is gone.
The set consisted almost entirely
of standards – Modern Romance is
an exploration of some lost gems of
the Great American Songbook – and
closed with an “introspective,” as Peck
put it, rendition of “I Fall In Love Too
Easily.” Behind Peck’s beard and glasses
the intensity of the emotion lay bare
on his face. It was apparent that Peck
felt each note resonate inside of him.
There were no empty gestures. | | http://earshot.org/Publication/pub/10july.pdf |
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