Like Brilliant Father, Like Dynamic Son

****

CHUCHITO VALDES JR.

“Encantado”

Town Crier

The brilliant pianist-composer Chucho Valdes long has been a star of Afro-Cuban jazz, but now his influence extends to another generation, through the dynamic work of his son, Chuchito. Like his father, he commands a leonine keyboard technique, ferocious rhythmic energy and a palpably charismatic performing style. All these virtues come through vividly on this glorious recording, one of the more persuasive Afro-Cuban releases in recent memory. For starters, Valdes exploits the full range of the keyboard, unleashing a mighty arsenal of lightning quick octaves, thunderous tremolo chords and fast-flying scales. As composer, Valdes proves himself conversant in various facets of Afro-Cuban music, from the lush romanticism of his “Bolero en Chicago” to the ingenious harmonies of “Son Cha Cha Cha” to the exuberant rhythms of “Homenaje Bebo” (a tribute to the elder statesman of the great family, Bebo Valdes). Best of all, Chuchito presides over an unusually effective band that respects Afro-Cuban tradition while gently coaxing it into a more modern age. The sheer chordal complexity of this music, as well as the originality of solos from reed player Laksar Reese and Valdes himself, reaffirm the vitality of ancient Afro-Cuban musical forms for a new century.

****

JEAN-MICHEL PILC TRIO

“Welcome Home”

Dreyfus Jazz

French jazz often is stereotyped as lyrical and understated, but pianist Pilc quickly sabotages such preconceptions. The sheer explosiveness of the opening track, a radical reconsideration of Miles Davis’ “So What,” proves that Pilc has other priorities in mind, his sharp dissonances, oft-steely tone and Herculean virtuosity at times placing him closer to Cecil Taylor than Claude Bolling. Similarly, the tonal intensity and rhythmic drive that Pilc brings to John Coltrane’s “Cousin Mary” and the outlandish new harmonies he applies to Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” underscore the pianist’s fervor and fearlessness. Even in ballads, Pilc revels in daring techniques, thoroughly changing rhythmic values in “Stella by Starlight” and taking Duke Ellington’s “Solitude” into harmonic regions it has not gone before. Though bassist Francois Moutin and drummer Ari Hoenig prove thoroughly in tune with Pilc’s ever-shifting moods, ultimately it’s the intellectual depth, musical erudition and digital prowess of Pilc’s pianism that distinguish this disc, which arrives like a gust of fresh air.

***1/2

MARK COLBY

“Tenor Reference”

Hallway Records

Great jazz musicians do not necessarily acquire fame commensurate with their talent, as the career of tenor saxophonist Colby attests. Although admired as a first-call studio player and top-notch educator in Chicago, Colby hardly is known as a headliner, but this recording could go a long way to change that. The man’s solos combine a composer’s control and forethought with an improviser’s sense of spontaneity and expressive freedom. In the jazz standard “Beautiful Love,” he crafts unusually poetic cadenzas that easily withstand repeated hearings; in his own “Blues of a Kind,” he produces utterly distinctive timbral effects; and in the classic ballad “My One and Only Love,” the delicacy, honesty and emotional surge of his playing are unforgettable. That the recording was made live in a nightclub only adds to the significance of Colby’s achievement, for it is not easy to attain this degree of nuance in a rowdy setting.

***

MISHA MENGELBERG QUARTET

“Four in One”

Songlines

The term “avant-garde” often scares listeners, but unconventional music rarely has been made more accessible than in this beguiling disc from indefatigable Dutch pianist Mengelberg. Joined by the versatile trumpeter Dave Douglas, Mengelberg shrewdly opens the recording with two decidedly nonthreatening tracks, the first as whimsical as its title (“Hypochristmutreefuzz”), the second unabashedly melodic (“Reef”). And though subsequent tracks such as “Kneebus” may open with a bit of musical anarchy, even in these instances it isn’t long before a discernible tune--or at least a fragment of one--rings out. Along the way, Mengelberg and friends provide snippets of oompah marches, Gypsy melodies, swing rhythm and, of course, the pianist’s famously ephemeral, pointillistic piano style.

*

Howard Reich is jazz critic at the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune company.