Postbop is about as nebulous a genre tag available, yet writers (myself included) continue to use it as a convenient categorization device. From Geri Allen to Denny Zeitlin, its pervasiveness is directly proportional to the ease of its application. With parameters that bend without much resistance the “I know it when I hear it” adage often applies. Pianist John Chin’s new disc certainly slots within the overused/underdefined rubric, but what’s most surprising is how seamlessly it fits. Subjectively speaking, the music epitomizes my conception of the genre, almost uncannily so.
Chin’s keyboard style is assertive and polished, suggesting strong ties to the populous and popular Evans school. Tenor saxophonist Mark Turner is a practically a poster child of postbop, and consequently his presence on four cuts makes perfect sense. Bassist Alexis Cuadrado handles all but two of the pieces, leaving those to his understudy Chris Higgins. Drummer Bill Campbell completes the quartet. Chin’s taste in borrowed tunes passes muster with entries from the songbooks of Strayhorn and Kenny Barron, the latter another noticeable influence. He likes to stretch out, which occasionally leads to stretching thin as on the rhythmically boxed in Barron number “Joanne Julia”. The ballad “I Won’t Argue With You” is comparably discursive, but Chin’s emotion-rich left hand chords and Campbell’s whisking brushes bring a heightened degree of feeling.
Radio, water jug, candle and canned goods- all are items handy in the event of the disc’s titular event. Chin includes piano keys in his personal list of essentials and considering the level of commitment to the instrument heard here, his reasoning is clear. His website makes mention of electronics and a Rhodes track on his MySpace page further hints at other avenues of expression. The presence of either on this session could have served as a source of welcome variance to a program that already feels convention-prone. Difficult to champion, but also hard to decry, the album is my new litmus for applying the postbop tag to others. Perhaps inadvertently, Chin has assembled a useful tool for writers and listeners alike in salvaging the belabored descriptor from the scrap heap of inconsequence.
~ Derek Taylor
Posted by derek on February 18, 2008 4:45 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................