Search - Orrin Evans :: Meant to Shine

What's up with Palmetto?

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 01/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One or two gems could be a fluke, right? But what about three or four of the absolute best jazz albums released in a single year? That can't be a fluke, can it?No, it can't.OK, what are they? 1) Ben Allison, PEACE PIPE2) Bobby Watson, LIVE & LEARN3) Andrew Hill, BEAUTIFUL DAY4) Orrin Evans, MEANT TO SHINEWow!! What a lineup! Who's the best? Darned if I know. But, Orrin Evans, the wonderful up-and-coming pianist, certainly holds his own in such exalted company. A deeply thoughtful yet slyly playful keysman, Evans contributes mightly to the success of Bobby Watson's first disc for Palmetto, LIVE & LEARN. But as fine as he is in the Watson band, it's not until he gets his own chance to shine that his pianistic virtues come fully to the fore.Take his solo on "Dawn Marie," for example. This gorgeous ballad builds on a simple single-note pattern, augmented by a sophisticated comping passage supporting a quite astonishing soprano sax solo by the inimitable but highly underrated Sam Newsome. In his deceptively simple solo, Evans achieves a poignancy seldom arrived at on jazz recordings coming from a much more mature musical perspective. But it doesn't stop there. The very next cut, "Don't Write No S--- About Me," masters an uptempo grove to startlingly effectiveness. And the waltz-time follow-up, "Eternalten," continues the deep pianistic vibe established by the foregoing numbers.Make no mistake, Orrin Evans is a jazz pianist of note. If I were you, I'd check him out before he becomes the new Herbie Hancock, or, perhaps, Jason Moran."