Peter Zak - My Conception

Steeplechase 31619

Encumbered with an alphabetically challenged surname, Peter Zak may require a bit of footwork to find in your local record shop. Rest assured, any extra strides necessary are worth it, for as far as “mainstream" keyboardists go he’s got more creative cachet than most. Zak tackles a solo set on his third session for Steeplechase, heeding the advice of elder Fred Hersch in approaching his selected songbook from as personal place as possible. That attention to self allows him to keep the influence of other peers and idols from overly encroaching on the set, though I do hear elements of Chick Corea in Zak’s general sound and approach. He makes the perceptive decision to take his time with the material. The opening “Shala” unfolds like a gradually blooming rose bud, ornamental accents falling like petals from a central melodic stem. Dexterity and drive characterize the reading of Cal Massey’s “These Are Soulful Days” where Zak’s darting hands engage in a circuit race up and down his ivories while still maintaining the semblance of a medium tempo.

The program tips in favor of standards, but Zak brings some inspired choices with him to the stool including Blue Mitchell’s bouncy calypso “Fungii Mama”, where the Corea traces are once again evident, and Joe Henderson’s elegant “Serenity”. As interpreted by Zak, the title piece, one of Sonny’s Clark’s signature compositions, fans out with melancholy Satie-worthy delicacy. He takes the sentiment of the title to heart and practice, building a string of melodic improvisations that are introspective, but not abstruse. Broke back warhorses both, “Witchcraft” and “With a Song in My Heart” are harder to salvage. Zak gives the task a heroic try anyway, parsing the former into a mini-suite of filigree patterns that skirt the treacly theme until the close and slowing down the latter to a balladic crawl with mixed results. His originals lace right in with the borrowed numbers. “Camel” ambles purposefully from minor to major, painting an aural portrait of the desert-dwelling animal through a flurry of knotted clusters. “Circling Columbus” revolves around a funky repeating left hand figure that recalls Guaraldi at his best. Solo piano sets are a bit of a hard sell these days, what with the preponderance of purveyors and choices. Zak makes a convincing pitch for consideration even if positioned in that unenviable last bin.

~ Derek Taylor

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