George Cables: I Hear Echoes

     I get a lot of CDs and downloads sent to me for this blog, and I can’t usually be sure I’ll enjoy the music until I start listening. But when it’s a new recording by pianist George Cables, I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that it’s going to be a winner. And so it is with I Hear Echoes, his latest HighNote album, a trio date with Essiet Essiet on bass and Jerome Jennings on drums. Cables turned 80 in November 2024 and he’s had various health problems over the last few years, but he sounds really strong on the opening track, Echo of a Scream. The first of four original tunes, it’s a dazzling upbeat swinger with an insistent figure that Cables keeps up for the whole tune. Another Cables composition, Echoes, sounds like a close cousin to the opener, with a more relaxed feel but similarly constructed. The trio also takes a fresh look at some older tunes: Morning Song, a tune that dates back to the late Seventies, and Blue Nights, first recorded in 1985. Joining the originals are a few standards, including a tasty upbeat version of Cole Porter’s You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To, and jazz compositions including Duke Ellington’s timeless Prelude to a Kiss, Cedar Walton’s Clockwise, and a stirring romp through pianist Arcoiris Sandoval’s Journey to Agartha. The CD concludes with a reflective solo rendition of Horace Silver’s Peace. There’s a reason Cables has been a key member of bands led by such disparate personalities and stylists as Art Blakey and saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper. He’s also appeared on record with such critically acclaimed artists as Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Rollins, Bobby Hutcherson, and many others. That reason is his unerring instinct for the right note at the right time and his reliable sense of swing. Until his run of trio albums for HighNote dating back to 2012's My Muse, I was more of a devotee of his ensemble work. But now, I’m eager to make room on the shelf for another of his joyously swinging trio dates. Absolutely recommended. 

HighNote HCD 7256; George Cables (p) Essiet Essiet (b) Jerome Jennings (d); NYC, January 30 & May 2, 2024; Echo of a Scream/ Echoes/ So Near So Far/ Morning Song/ Prelude to a Kiss/ Clockwise/ Like a Lover/ You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To/ Blue Nights/ Journey to Agartha/ Peace; 65:41. www.jazzdepot.com