Martial Solal Trio: Longitude (CamJazz)

Because he’s (Algerian) French, many American jazz fans have overlooked Martial Solal, but as he moves into elder-statesman status, that may be changing, as is certainly due one of the greatest living pianists. Thanks be, his albums are appearing more regularly here than they used to. Here’s the latest one, with twins François and Louis Moutin on bass and drums, respectively (one of the great current rhythm sections).

The interplay of the three musicians is wonderful. François’s melodic conception is clearly in the line that has followed from Scott LaFaro’s work in the Bill Evans Trio, and Louis’s space-imbued rhythmic interjections equally owing something to the same predecessor group’s drummer, Paul Motian (with whom Solal has recorded on several occasions).

Solal is far away from Evans, however, mixing the angularity of Thelonious Monk, the nearly free-associative spontaneity of Paul Bley, the fleet runs of Oscar Peterson, the smears of Don Pullen, the serpentine harmonies of Herbie Hancock, and more. Those are comparisons, not a list of influences; Solal, who will turn 81 on August 23, predates three of them.

Solal’s highly personal chord voicings and voice leading immediately distinguish him from his peers, and though he works within harmony, his penchant for sudden twists can often make his playing seem to verge on free jazz in his many originals and even in his take on the old standard “Tea for Two.” Solal’s imaginative dissection of “The Last Time I Saw Paris” is not “free,” but it’s certainly freewheeling, wittily startling in its departures from the norm. Nor would one guess from his spryness at the keyboard that the artist was 79 at the time of the recording session.

This is as good an introduction to Solal’s artistry as any; others well worth hearing include At Newport '63 (RCA Victor/BMG), Bluesine (Soul Note), Balade du 10 Mars, Just Friends (Dreyfus), NY1: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note), and as mentioned in my recent obit for Johnny Griffin, the Solal/Griffin duo CD In & Out (Dreyfus). No jazz piano fan’s library should lack for Solal, and once you’ve heard him, you’ll want more. - Steve Holtje

Mr. Holtje is a Brooklyn-based poet and composer who splits his time between editing Culturecatch.com, working at the Williamsburg record store Sound Fix, and editing cognitive neuroscience books for Oxford University Press. No prizes for guessing which pays best.