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Sam Yahel
Hometown
By Susan Frances

Pianist/organist/composer Sam Yahel has found his melodic voicing on his latest solo record Hometown from Posi-Tone Records. After having performed as a sideman for such notable recording artists as Norah Jones, Joshua Redman, and Jim Rotondi, Yahel is stepping onto the frontlines of modern improvisation with his trio, which additionally comprises of bassist Matt Penman and drummer Jochen Ruckert. The graceful curves of Yahel’s lines, the simmering lolls of Penman’s bass grooves, and the quick-silver flicks of Ruckert’s drum sticks canvassing the snare drums are striking and exert the energy of a well-seasoned trio. The threesome has tailored a litany of improvisations which keep them volleying the ball among themselves, and creating an ambience that is suited for supper clubs and mood music for cocktails at music lounges.

The bluesy glint in “Blue Pepper” is soothing and liken to the music of Norah Jones. The animated agility in Yahel’s ruffled keys and Ruckert’s quickly rotating drum loops in “Think Of One” are reminiscent of the theme songs featured in Charles Schultz’s cartoons for the Peanuts Gang. Yahel’s briskly moving sweeps through “Jealous Guy” produce a sarong of serried rhapsodies and buoyant propulsions while the deep tones of the bass in “Oumou” move in woozy patterns. Yahel displays a nonchalant swagger in his finger movements along “United,” and smooth pensively cobbled pathways through “Moonlight In Vermont.” The improvisations add timely sprinkles and surges of rapidly furled lines through “My ideal.” Yahel’s piano keys are the cogs that keep the melody’s wheels rolling, while the rhythm section establishes the pace of the canter along the rides like in the reclining grooves of “So Long.” The straight-ahead jazz schematics of “River Song” and the title track have a pleasant ruffling and silky ramparts that listeners can seclude themselves in like a cozy café filled with twinkling improvisations and flexible grooves.

Yahel’s compositions show accoutrements of progressive jazz elements as well as several nuances steep in straight-ahead jazz. Hometown is an ambitious effort that challenges Yahel’s talents and displays his ability to harmonize with his bassist and drummer. His movements are natural, and provide the tunes with lifts when they are appropriate and folds where they need to be. His instincts are sharp and his voicing is lyrical even as his improvisations show gymnastic-like jumps and furls. His compositions take the listener out of living a hum-drum existence and provide excursions that are plentiful in unexpected turns.