ALBUM REVIEWS

STEVE KUHN

“Remembering Tomorrow”

ECM

* * * 1/2

This lush, introspective recording from pianist Kuhn’s trio (with bassist David Finck and drummer Joey Baron) reinforces the reputation ECM producer Manfred Eicher has for developing atmospheric music. Kuhn gives expression-filled readings on 10 of his own mostly relaxed pieces and an especially delicate performance on Michel Colombier’s ballad “Emmanuel.”

Kuhn’s light touch, polished during his years with Stan Getz and Art Farmer, is especially effective at drawing listeners into his world. The supporting musicians are especially sensitive to Kuhn’s light touch and subtle sense of dynamics. Baron, a drummer known for his free-form, muscular attack, stays appropriately understated in group play, shading expertly with cymbals and mallets on tom-toms. But given a chance to solo, he returns to character, rolling and rattling aggressively .

Only the songs “All the Rest Is the Same” and “Oceans in the Sky” (the title tune from Kuhn’s also excellent 1990 Owl release) differ from the program’s mood, with their heightened sense of dramatic development. “Remembering Tomorrow” is a beautifully warm, wonderfully assured trio recording that touches a variety of emotions with lightness and grace.

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