Pianist Aaron Parks continues his creation of an impressive catalogue on this latest release, a quartet affair with Greg Tuogey/g, David Ginyard/b and Tommy Crane/dr. He writes all of the material, and the moods veer towards relaxed and calm waters that gently pulse forward. He adds the keyboards to his arsenal here, creating a vintage CTI soul feel for some nice work by Tuohey on “The Trickster” while bass and drums get funky on “Professor Strangeweather” and creating soft droplets on “Mandala.”
On the acoustic side, Crane gently coaxes the team on the clip clopping “Good Morning” while nudges Parks on the gentle and thoughtful “Lilac” while the pastoral “Doors Open” shows Parks’ strength in melodicism and reflection. A good outing.