Pablo Held, The Trio Meets John Scofield, Pirouet

From 2014. Opening shimmeringly with ‘Cameo’, the title a clue to the appearance later in the track of guitarist John Scofield this is a live recording from Cologne’s Philharmonic Hall made at the end of January. The 27-year-old German pianist Pablo …

Published: 3 Dec 2019. Updated: 4 years.

From 2014. Opening shimmeringly with ‘Cameo’, the title a clue to the appearance later in the track of guitarist John Scofield this is a live recording from Cologne’s Philharmonic Hall made at the end of January.

The 27-year-old German pianist Pablo Held has been rising to the top of the European jazz piano firmament in recent years and no wonder hearing his big technique, a stylish Herbie Hancock-like comping to Scofield at the beginning of the album matching the eloquence of his solo runs dotted about the five mostly quite long but absorbing tracks.

Tunes are split between Held and Scofield with a version of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Marcie’ the clincher, Scofield sinuously inching the melody along. Bassist Robert Landfermann and drummer Jonas Burgwinkel easily rise to the challenge of Held’s vaulting solo lines and Scofield’s harmonic bravado and flashes of passion. A serious but rewarding listen. SG

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Elliot Galvin trio, Dreamland, Chaos Collective

From 2014. Taking its title from an iconic amusement park in Margate pianist Elliot Galvin isn’t content at producing a conventional all-the-fun-of-the fair piano trio album here by any means. Using toy piano as well as piano he is in the company …

Published: 3 Dec 2019. Updated: 3 years.

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From 2014. Taking its title from an iconic amusement park in Margate pianist Elliot Galvin isn’t content at producing a conventional all-the-fun-of-the fair piano trio album here by any means.

Using toy piano as well as piano he is in the company of bassist Tom McCredie and drummer Simon Roth, a trio who have been together for a couple of years and who make their recording debut here. Galvin’s method and style to an extent reminds me a bit of dazzling Polish pianist Marcin Masecki who has made a speciality of deconstruction, in his case, Scarlatti and beyond.

While the raw materials are different deconstruction is still top of the agenda with Galvin’s trio and there’s a dazzling cerebral array of often thunderous and always adventurous improvising routes that the gold medal winning student at Trinity Laban is willing to take. From Art Tatum to Cecil Taylor and even into areas Alexander Hawkins at its more arcane might well venture into, take ‘13’, a piece that delves into the wild soundworld of early free-jazz but also manages to leverage this with sinuous interplay later in a different idiom, all in the space of just over three-and-a-half-minutes. A promising trio debut by a pianist tipped, understandably, for great things. SG