ENRICO PIERANUNZI, MARC JOHNSON, JOEY BARON

Live In Japan
CamJazz

>>Read the Jazzitude review of Enrico Pieranunzi/Doorways
Read the Jazzitude review of Enrico Pieranunzi/Fellini Jazz

The ghost of pianist Bill Evans figures prominently in this 2-CD live recording by Enrico Pieranunzi and his trio mates, Marc Johnson and Joey Baron. Bassist Marc Johnson played with Bill Evans’ final trio from 1978 until the pianist’s untimely death two years later. Like virtually every jazz pianist to emerge since the legendary Evans trio put its stamp on the piano trio, Pieranunzi is profoundly influenced by Evans and has obviously studied and absorbed many of the maestro’s lessons.

But Pieranunzi is much more than an Evans impersonator, as the varied textures and styles on Live In Japan demsontrate. The group also owes a debt to another great piano trio: that of Keith Jarrett who, with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette, has also expanded and modernized the Evans vocabulary. Like that trio, Pieranunzi, Johnson, and Baron engage in group improvisation live, and that is captured on Live in Japan as well. Whether improvising or playing pre-composed pieces, there is a level of telepathy among these musicians that makes them one of the best piano trios around. It’s hard to believe, as Pieranunzi’s press release states, that this has never been a working group. Nonetheless, they have played together on several CamJazz recordings since 2002, producing a body of recorded work that places them alongside contemporary trios like Jarrett’s and that of Brad Mehldau.

The brief opening interlude, “Aurora Giapponese” gives way to the improvisational “Impronippo.” Opening with Johnson’s bass into which Baron slowly insinuates his drums, Pieranunzi arrives with a flurry of notes and dissonance, not at all the more relaxed, controlled, lyrical image that many listeners may have developed of him. Eventually the trio works its way into a comfortable swing rhythm, but Piernanunzi continues to play aggressively and inventively throughout. Following a trading of solo bars by the trio members, the piece winds down with some arco bass work to a quieter, if not necessarily less agitated space. This is truly not like much else that Pieranunzi has recorded, and there are two more wonderfully realized group improvisations spread across the two discs—the closing “Improminor” and “Improleaves,” loosely based on the theme of “Autumn Leaves.”

If all of this sounds rather challenging, rest assured there is also a great deal of romanticism and lyricism to be found on Live in Japan. Pieranunzi continues to explore the music of Italian composer Enrrico Morricone, playing four of the composer’s works here. There are also wonderful original pieces such as the swinging “How Can You Not?” and the introspective solo improvisation “Tokyo Reflections.” The music here is both extroverted and reflective. Pieranunzi is ultimately a more forceful pianist than Evans. His confident and robust playing reflects his Roman origins, as does his sophistication and lack of bluster.

Pieranunzi’s Live In Japan is unquestionably going to be one of the finest jazz recordings or 2007, and is a must-have for anyone who is a connoisseur of the modern jazz piano trio.