Good things in threes…Pianist Vincent Meissner teams together with bassist Josef Zeimetz and drummer Reichmann for some modern trio work. With snappy drums, Messner gets Chopinesque on ”Things” and elegant with rich bass on “Sonny” The team digs in on “The Dynamic Angularity…” and shows how to veer around sharp corners on the busy and complex “Da Sein Hier Sein”. Some deft brush work teams with dainty digits for a tender take of The Beatles’ “In My Life” while there’s a dark and wild ride of “I Wanna Dance With Someone” and the dynamics rise and fall for the ballet of “August”. Ideas for modern ivories.
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Guitarist Nguyen Le brings together bassist Chris Jennings and percussionist Rhani Krija for some cleverly devised originals. Each song has the guitarist seemingly sound like music from a different land, with tight Asian strings pulsating on “Red City”, a Greek feeling title track teamed with a dancing djembe, as well as some fusion rock akin to the group Yes on ”Tiger’s Dance”. Memphis funk digs in on “Onety-One” and some haunting flutelike guitar floats on the mysterious “Moonstone”. Angular and intense head banging is featured on ”Baraka” and lovely ambience gets pastoral on “Becoming Water”. A wide color on a palate.