The foundation of modern jazz, the piano trio, is well served on these two recent releases…
Midwest bred and now a NYC cat, David Janeway shows a wide swath of talent and accessible bop styles as he plays both piano and keyboards in hip trio fashion with the adroit support of bassist Cameron Brown and the legendary drummer Billy Hart.
There are 13 tunes here, mixing a handful of originals with some original takes of jazz standards and obscurities. On keyboards, he percolates a slick and slow groove on Wayne Shorter’s “Nefertiti” and gives a soulful pulse for Freddie Hubbard’s “Brigitte” making the session feel like a vintage CTI recording.
On piano, his left hand has a Bill Evansy softness and lyricism as on “Blue Serge” while showing an Ahmad Jamal’s use of space on the cadenced “Sweet and Lovely”. He digs in deep for a staccato’d “Excursion” and bops with class on “One For Cedar”, waltzing with aplomb on the lyrical “Gardenia” and the genteel Tin Pan Alley mooded “In Passing”. The team blends well, with Brown giving an exotic intro to “All Or Nothing At All” and Hart riding the whip on “Moontrane”. Timeless joys.
Veteran pianist Carsten Dahl brings together fellow Scandinavians Alex Riel/dr and Bo Stief/b for a collection of standards, originals and local folklore. Dahl’s fingers are warm and relaxed throughout, pretty on “My Song” and giving a glorious intro to the spacious take of “Moon River”. There’s a Bill Evans nod on “Stella By Starlight” and hints of ECM crystalline sparkles on the folk tunes of “Vem Kan Segla Forutan Vind” and “Jag Vet En Dejlig Rosa”. Most intriguing is the slowed down and up towned take of John Coltrane’s bebopping “Giant Steps” and the Keith Jarrettish cleverness of the trio’s composition “Hostdansen”. The interplay is sublime, and the pulses like a jogger’s pace. A well run track.