Orrin Evans
Faith In Action
POSI-TONE 8058
★★★★
“Don’t Call Me Wally,” the three- minute marvel that opens the latest album by the consistently beguiling, elusive pianist Orrin Evans, is a veritable symphony of motion, a wonderfully jagged chunk of Thelonious Monk-like puckishness and rhythmic restless- ness. It also happens to swing like mad. Evans, bassist Luques Curtis, and, especially, drummer Nasheet Waits ferry the piece through end- less shifts, as each player alters melodic patterns and grooves ev- ery couple of bars, forcing their quick-thinking partners to quickly adapt. While the music belongs to New York’s mainstream vanguard, there’s something about it that makes me think of the prankish- ness of Amsterdam’s Misha Men- gelberg and Han Bennink. This opening piece, an Evans original, might be the most perfect and sat- isfying piece of music I’ve heard this year.
Luckily, the rest of the album is almost as good and just as rigorous. This beautifully recorded session captures his muscular, angular side as well as his tender character bet- ter than anything he’s ever done. That he’s able to accomplish this while paying homage to one of his former mentors—saxophonist Bobby Watson, who penned half of the tracks here—indicates the pia- nist’s ability to get inside any piece of music and remake it his own.
—Peter Margasak
Faith In Action: Don’t Call Me Wally; Faith In Ac- tion; Wheel Within A Wheel; Appointment In Milano; Matthews Song; Beatitudes; MAT-Matt; Love Remains; Two Steppin With Dawn; Why Not. (55:36)
Personnel: Orrin Evans, piano; Luques Curtis, bass; Nasheet Waits, drums; Rocky Bryant, drums (3); Gene Jackson, drums (5, 9). ordering info: posi-tone.com
