Here’s a young pianist that shows tons of promise. At 23, Steven Feifke has already performed with the likes of Stefon Harris and Chris Potter, so he’s no slouch with his chops. Here, he teams up with an adroit septet with a three horn front line of Benny Benack/tp-fh, Andrew Gould/as, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown/ts that creates some great harmonies and lines like the steady “Am I Still There For You?” and the fragrant “Autumn in New York. The rest of the rhythm team trio of Raviv Markovitz/b and Jimmy Macbride/dr are as kinetic as a ping pong tournament, and deliver a nice focus with Markovitz doing some nice work on the sans horned “Song for Ben and Gidi.” Guitarist Alex Wintz weaves in and out with some nice work with Feifke on the stady “The Coast” and the supple “The Missing Feeling” while Gould shows his Dolphy hand on “Wollongong,” Lefkowitz-Brown is warm and beefy on the classy “Second Wind” and Benack glistens in “Autumn in New York.”
As for Feifke himself, he’s a monster, giving a hint of Tchaikovsky on Monk’s “Evidence,” a dash of Satie on “Am I Still There,” and swinging with the blues on Horace Silver’s “Nica’s Dream.” He shows soft hands on “3:23 AM” and shows class on “Peace In Time.” He’s got to be a treat in concert-can’t wait to see him!