Search - Enrico Pieranunzi, Marc Johnson, Joey Baron :: Ballads

Still water runs deep: subterranean brilliance

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 08/24/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Pity bassist Marc Johnson. He was an integral part of the Bill Evans' Trio during the pianist's extraordinary valedictory that culminated in the sets, "Last Waltz" and "Consecration," only to be orphaned following the pianist's sudden death at the completion of those remarkable recordings. There would be no one to take Bill's place, but approximately ten years later Johnson would record with a brilliant young pianist who was the next best thing--Dave Catney ("Jade Visions")--only to be re-orphaned when the youthful Catney succumbed to AIDS. And now the bassist has teamed up with Enrico Pieranunzi, who has less in common with Evans' late volcanic expressionism or Catney's effervescent impressionism than with the crystalline classicism of late John Lewis ("Evolution I and II").



This is music that's impossible to dislike--anyone who appreciates good music will not object to your having it playing in the background. But don't be fooled: this is music that repays serious listening, even though the frequent minor modalities, suspended rhythms, and mono-toned, languorous mood will make it difficult for many listeners to absorb the program at one continuous sitting. (Apart from the two standards, I would be surprised if even an attentive listener could identify the songs after a single hearing.)



Pieranunzi takes few chances and makes no mistakes. One of the tunes ("Thought") is simply a melody played through once. On the other tunes Johnson's bass is given either equal or greater solo time than the piano.



While Pieranunzi's exacting and deliberate approach (he uses conservative voicings of chords but is a master at voice-leading) encourages Johnson to cut way back on his technique (no hint of twang, exaggerated decay, double stops, or tocatta-styled finger wizardry), the bassist is nonetheless more active yet no less definitive in his solos than is the pianist. Together they complement one another--a true piano-bass meeting of minds, with the drums marking cadences and providing carefully placed intensifiers and colorings.



I suspect Johnson has to be most happy not only about the substance of his solos but the sound of his bass, which is captured with striking, perhaps unequaled, verisimilitude."