By Thomas W. Jacobsen
Today is my birthday! Just another day on the long journey to….where? I’m going to celebrate it by making brief note of one of my favorite new recordings–in fact, it is scheduled for release today!
I am referring to the newly minted CD by the Danny Green Trio called Altered Narratives. It features Green, piano; Justin Grinnell, bass; and Julien Cantelm, drums–a lovely combination that is augmented mid-record on three numbers with the addition of a string quartet composed of Antoine Silverman and Max Moston, violins; Chris Cardona, viola; and Anja Wood, cello.
Green is a wonderfully lyrical pianist and composer–all the music here is his originals–and, unlike much of today’s original jazz, this music is melodic and eminently listenable while managing to swing. It reveals him as a musician of varied tastes/influences, from the blues (“Chatter from All Sides”) to Brazilian (“6 A.M.”) to the classical (I was particularly taken by the slightly unsettling darkness of “Katabasis”)–not to mention his major gift for balladry (“October Ballad” being the most striking, in my opinion).
All in all, I was truly taken by this CD. It came as something new to me, but it does not seem to be the thirty-something pianist’s first. I recommend it without qualification.
See review at New Orleans Notes
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