Cyrus Chestnut - Cyrus Plays Elvis

Koch 4238

An indelible air of April Fool’s encumbers this album, akin to the vibe you might encounter over at All About Jazz on the first of that month. Closer consideration reveals layers of logic and abiding candor behind the project. Pianist Cyrus Chestnut, one of the chief targets for invective from critics who take it upon themselves to lambaste the so-called “neo-con” movement in jazz, has several things in common with his chosen source. Just as Elvis arguably stole the rudiments of his style and songbook from black bluesmen like Arthur Crudup and Ivory Joe Hunter, so too did Chestnut cop the building blocks of his from older players like Errol Garner and Oscar Peterson. Audience entertainment is a mitigating factor in the music each and Chestnut notes his strong affinity for gospel music, which registers as another convenient corollary between him and The King.

Musically, Chestnut takes pains to refit the quotidian tunes with a variety of embellishments and ornaments that echo his often baroque sensibilities. The opening “Hound Dog” bounces along on an added bossa beat by way of New Orleans. The anemic soprano saxophone of guest Mark Gross quickly derails “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and his alto work on “Don’t” isn’t much better. “Love Me Tender” receives a soufflé-light jazz waltz treatment while the saccharine take on the already sugar-saturated “Suspicious Minds”, but a somber, semi-free form take on “Heartbreak Hotel” takes the trapping of the tune’s title at surprisingly effective face value and ends up the standout track. Chestnut’s regular sidemen, bassist Dezron L. Douglas and drummer Neal Smith work well in each of the contexts, handling the leader’s license on the tunes with relative ease and staying out of his way. Chestnut explicates his reasons for covering the Presley ‘songbook’ in his self-authored liners and it’s hard not to hand over props for his level of conviction. In his eyes, it’s just music, regardless of provenance or past. Still, the session remains suspect on general principle and that subjective appraisal makes it impossible for me to recommend to all but the ardent Chestnut fan. In other words, it has a certain future as a handy stocking stuffer for my dad.

~ Derek Taylor