Search - Jean-Michel Pilc :: Welcome Home

Breakthrough!! Breakthrough!!

03/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tucked away on a little corner of Amazoncyberland, who knows who'll read this? But let me tell you (as a jazz advocate who became enamored with the music when I heard "Monk's Dream" at age 12) this is a tremendous, landmark work. It is now very rare in jazz to hear a completely fresh voice, one who has distilled much of what has come before (Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner, Monk, and Erroll Garner appear to be the major sources in this case), and transforms it into a style that is utterly his own. With Pilc, anything appears to be possible, but all is tightly focused, abstract, challenging, bracing, and still accessible. Pilc plays the whole piano, and his trio collaborators are right there with him. His interpretations of essential compositions in the jazz canon rethink them completely; as a result , the listener is required to address his or her own notions of this art form, and what still may remain in it to be explored.There was a time when unique voice, originality, and innovation counted for something in jazz---with listeners as well as musicians. This time appears to have gone by, as the jazz world appears to have degenerated into various micro-cults. But---just on the basis of having heard this one CD---I can rank Pilc with the masters. He is an artist---like Wayne Shorter, David Murray, Bill Frisell, and David Holland to name a few---whose artistic mission seems to be the continual rediscovery of the jazz process as the wellspring of musical possibility.I hope there are others out there who care."

You won't believe your ears

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 04/16/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Excuse me if I rave incoherently, but mere words seem woefully inadequate to capture what's going on in this absolutely spectacular disc. There'd been rumors bruited about concerning Pilc's record, but I didn't act on them, partially because I don't generally like piano trios, and partially because I've been burned too many times by unfounded hype.Here's the deal. Seldom if ever has such prodigious, jaw-dropping technique been put to service in a setting of such ravishing musicality. There may be a few jazz pianists with more chops--Cecil Taylor, Marilyn Crispel, Myra Melford, Craig Taborn, and Matthew Ship come to mind--but none of these is ANYWHERE as listenable as Pilc. The only one who even comes close is Benoit Delbecq, and he's a much different kind of player. Some, indeed, are hardly listenable at all. It's as if Pilc plopped onto the scene completely developed. I don't think I've ever heard as accomplished a debut jazz recording as this one. Pilc's got this unique ability to utterly deconstruct a standard tune--melodically, harmonically, and rhythmically--yet still render it recognizable, almost even hummable. You'd be a fool to miss out on this one."

Fabulous, bristling, original, challening, and great.

Big Chief | Laguna Niguel, CA | 01/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Looking for new music is hit and miss; you read reviews, listen to samples, talk to friends, or whatever, and 90% of the time you don't really succeed. And once in a while, whoa! I found Jean-Michele Pilc quite randomly, heard something promising, and bought the Welcome Home CD. I'll never quite hear piano playing in the same way again! For the life of me I don't know why we haven't heard more about Jean-Michele; this guy is fabulous, bristling, original, and just a huge treat to hear. Everything about this playing is exciting; the rhythms; the friendly dissonance, the chord voicing, the explosive dynamic range, and the beautiful musicality of the whole. This CD is such a joyous treat to hear, and it is challenging enough that you'll really need many listens to really absorb all that is happening. The bass is great, the drums are great, and the interplay is great. This is the most exciting jazz CD I've heard in quite a while. Please don't forget this man."