Dec. 01--The year nearly has ended, critics are polishing their Top 10 lists and Black Friday is behind us.
Yet as 2015 winds down, two of Chicago's top jazz pianists have released noteworthy new recordings. The albums may not receive a lot of media attention, due to the timing, but each represents a personal milestone of sorts.
Larry Novak has been an admired pianist for decades, no less than Oscar Peterson citing him as one of this city's greats, dating back to when Peterson reigned at the long-gone London House (which closed in 1975). Novak doesn't perform publicly a great deal these days, but anyone fortunate enough to have heard him through the years already knows about the fluidity and finesse of his pianism.
Now the rest of the world can find out, thanks to "Invitation" (Delmark Records), Novak's first album as bandleader in decades. Fronting a trio staffed by jazz veterans Rusty Jones on drums and Eric Hochberg on bass, Novak plays with the verve of youth and the wisdom of the ages, his work crystallizing what the classic jazz trio is all about, without wallowing in nostalgia.
Novak opens the album with an ingenious solo version of Bill Evans' most famous work, "Waltz for Debby," which sums up a great deal about Novak's art. The bejeweled touch, harmonic complexity, rhythmic elasticity and improvisational inventiveness of his playing instantly pique interest. You never know when Novak is going to pause or rush ahead, where he'll take a particular chord progression or how he'll change melodic direction at the drop of a sixteenth note. Other pianists could learn a great deal about the art of improvisation simply by transcribing this solo and studying it.
When Novak takes on jazz standards, he gives listeners just enough of the tune to allow for quick recognition but wastes no time transforming it. Thus he unspools beautifully sculpted right-hand lines in "The Days of Wine and Roses," travels a far distance harmonically in "Yesterdays" and captures an air of mystery and surging rhythmic momentum in the title track.
Throughout, Novak remains a pianist in command of his instrument and the progress of the music, bringing bassist Hochberg and drummer Jones to the forefront as needed. This high-toned, rhythmically relaxed manner of performing jazz standards is something of a rarity these days, harking back to mid-20th century idioms well worth revisiting, thanks to the tonal sheen and musical integrity of Novak's approach.
Robert Irving III explores radically different musical terrain in "Our Space in Time" (Sonic Portraits Jazz), his tenure as music director for Miles Davis from 1979 to 1988 reflected in the open-eared, open-minded, forward-looking nature of this venture. A heady, trippy foray into sonic experimentation, the album merges acoustic and electric instrumentation, avant-garde and pop-tinged idioms, splashes of color, hypnotic riffs, ethereal vocals and a great deal more.
No, this is not the sort of thing you would have heard in the London House in Novak's day, but it offers a joyously freewheeling, genre-mixing spirit that proves difficult to resist. By turns gnarly and tuneful, rambunctious and meditative, "Our Space in Time" extends to septet the ebullient spirit that listeners associate with Irving's pianism.
Part of the anything-goes nature of the venture surely owes to the multigenerational staffing of Irving's band, aptly titled Generations. In effect, if Irving once was the up-and-coming player following trumpet icon Davis' lead, now the pianist serves as the mentor, drawing as much energy and inspiration from his proteges as Davis surely did from him. Bringing Irving's vision to life are alto saxophonist Laurence d'Estival Irving (the pianist's wife), guitarist Scott Hesse, saxophonists Rajiv Halim and Irvin Pierce, bassist-vocalist Emma Dayhuff and drummer Charles "Rick" Heath.
Irving's poetic philosophizing on a few tracks may seem a bit loopy to some, but not to anyone who has traveled in the orbit of Sun Ra, the jazz visionary whose "space is the place" mantra clearly has cast a spell on Irving. And though it takes too many tracks before Irving and the Generations calm down a bit, when they finally do, on "Octobre," they've arrived at one of Irving's mostly beautifully crafted ballads.
All of which goes to show that, in Chicago, buoyant new music rises up at all times of year, including when you least expect it.
Robert Irving III and Generations celebrate the release of "Our Space in Time" at 7:30 p.m. Friday at The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Avenue West; $15; 312-801-2100 or promontorychicago.com.
An intense weekend
This weekend will be unusually rich in jazz. Among the highlights:
Grazyna Auguscik Michal Urbaniak. The great Polish jazz singer Auguscik, long based in Chicago, will play a concert with violinist Urbaniak in a cross-genre affair. For Auguscik will lead her jazz quartet, Urbaniak will front a blues ensemble, and the two bandleaders will collaborate. 8 p.m. Friday at Copernicus Center, 5216 W. Lawrence Ave.; $25-$40; 773-777-8898 or copernicustickets.com.
"Swingin' in the Holidaze!" Jeannie Tanner -- a multi-threat singer, trumpeter, composer and arranger -- will lead her quartet in a marathon of song this weekend. She'll share the stage with vocalists Elaine Dame, Abigail Riccards and Kimberly Gordon at 8 p.m. Friday; and she'll appear with singers Stephanie Browning, Amy Yassinger and Tammy McCann at 8 p.m. Saturday; at Pete Miller's, 1557 Sherman Ave., Evanston; no cover; 847-328-0399 or petemillers.com.
Juan Pastor. The Chicago percussionist has made important strides in merging music of his native Peru with jazz idioms in his groundbreaking band Chinchano. He'll celebrate the release of their new album, "Un Cambio," on this occasion, joined by pianist Stu Mindeman, bassist Patrick Mulcahy and trumpeter Marquis Hill, with alto saxophonists Greg Ward on Friday and Rich Moore on Saturday; 9 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Green Mill Jazz Club, 4802 N. Broadway; $12; 773-878-5552 or greenmilljazz.com.
hreich@tribpub.com
"Portraits in Jazz": Howard Reich's e-book collects his interviews with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald and others, as well as profiles of early masters such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday. Get "Portraits in Jazz" at chicagotribune.com/ebooks.
