David Kikoski with Boris Kozlov: Sure Thing

  Pianist David Kikoski and bassist Boris Kozlov have shared a lot of stages and recording studios since they first appeared together as members of the Mingus Big Band at the end of the 1990's. So it makes perfect sense for the pair to record as a duo, and the resulting session, Sure Thing, is a real delight from start to finish. As Kozlov told Bill Milkowski for the liner notes, “there’s a lot of history at this point. And when you play together for a long time you learn how a person thinks, how things flow ... it’s this familiarity that makes it really pleasurable to play together.” The program includes four of Kikoski’s evocative compositions, plus the Jerome Kern standard that gives the album its name, Chick Corea’s Quartet #1, John Coltrane’s Satellite, and the set’s biggest surprise, Keith Emerson’s Fugue from “The Endless Enigma.” Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Trilogy album, released in 1972, was a big Kikoski favorite when he was a pre-teen. He’s always wanted to play the fugue section, and here it is, deftly arranged for the duo and lovingly performed. Other highlights include the gentle sparring on Kikoski’s Strength for Change (previously known as New Old Ballad), the vigorous and expansive rendition of the Corea tune, and the duo’s romp through the Coltrane number. Kozlov notes that he heard Kikoski playing Satellite in a club years ago, and then started practicing the piece “like mad.” All that practice has paid off handsomely here, with an impressive solo and powerful accompaniment to Kikoski’s elaborations of the melody. The pair engages in the most-freewheeling dialogue of the session on Winnie’s Garden, a Kikoski tune based on the popular changes of Sweet Georgia Brown. They’re flying high on this one, the last tune of the disc and the final tune they recorded on a winter’s day in 2016. The teaming of Kikoski and Kozlov offers a bold partnership of improvisational invention, and Sure Thing is cheerfully recommended. 

HighNote HCD 7336; David Kikoski (p) Boris Kozlov (b); Brooklyn, NY, February 3, 2016; B Flat Tune/ E/ Fugue from “The Endless Enigma”/ Strength for Change/ Quartet #1/ Satellite/ Sure Thing/ Winnie’s Garden; 57:11. www.jazzdepot.com

Franco Ambrosetti Band: Lost Within You

  I was quite taken with Long Waves, a 2019 release by trumpet veteran Franco Ambrosetti, so I was glad to receive his new disc in the mail. I’m even happier to report that the rapturous Lost Within You by the Franco Ambrosetti Band is just as deeply satisfying as its predecessor. Recorded almost exactly a year later, the new release gathers the same world-class musicians that appeared on Long Waves: pianist Uri Caine, guitarist John Scofield, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Jack DeJohnette, with Renee Rosnes, new to Ambrosetti’s orbit, substituting for Caine on 5 tracks. Ambrosetti, who first recorded as a leader back in 1965 for the Durium label, continues to exude enthusiasm and display his endless improvisational imagination. Mostly heard on flugelhorn here, his clear, burnished sound is a delight throughout the lengthy set. Horace Silver’s Peace, given a relaxed rendition with DeJohnette on piano, is the first number in this well-chosen ballad-oriented program, including a pair of new tunes by Ambrosetti. His tender Silli in the Sky, with an echo of My Funny Valentine, is dedicated to his wife (and executive producer), while the charming Dreams of a Butterfly takes its inspiration from a story by Jorge Luis Borges. The band’s delicately paced eleven minute foray into the classic Body and Soul is stunningly beautiful, featuring a richly emotional solo by Ambrosetti and a fine solo by Caine, with exemplary playing by the Colley-DeJohnette team. Flamenco Sketches, the Miles Davis and Bill Evans collaboration from Kind Of Blue, is another highlight, with a lovely Rosnes solo. McCoy Tyner’s You Taught My Heart to Sing, a love song without words, concludes the disc, featuring a masterful solo by Scofield. There’s plenty of good feeling and palpable warmth in this music, resulting in a session worth revisiting again and again. Happily recommended. 

Unit UTR 4907; Franco Ambrosetti (tpt, flgh) Uri Caine* or Renee Rosnes# (p) John Scofield (g) Scott Colley (b) Jack DeJohnette (d; p on Peace); NYC, January 20-24, 2020; Peace/ I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Outta My Life#/ Silli in the Sky#/ Love Like Ours#/ Dreams of a Butterfly*/ Body and Soul*/ People Time*/ Flamenco Sketches#/ You Taught My Heart to Sing#; 72:47. www.unitrecords.com