Out of Seattle - Live At Jazz Alley

Dave Peck is one of those pianists who helps one understand why certain songs have been labeled "standards." They represent that core of American popular music which challenges the likes of great jazz pianists to take full advantage of the improvisational opportunities they offer. For his fifth album for his Let's Play Stella outfit, Peck, in trio format, successfully takes on the test of giving a fresh perspective to songs which have been recorded and played a countless number of times. With an agenda running from a relatively modern jazz classic, Miles Davis' "Solar," to the 1929 Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart "With a Song in My Heart," Peck and his two stellar playing mates, Joe Labarbera and Jeff Johnson on drums and bass, respectively, are successful in applying modern creative jazz ideas to the music. The chord structures of these standards are susceptible to a myriad of rephrasing, reformulating, and reconstruction — the only limitation is the technique and imagination of the performers, and this trio is wanting in neither. Take the approach to "Come Rain or Come Shine" as they turn the chord arrangement, if not upside down, then at least sideways, and revamp rhythm patterns and emphasis. What comes out is a completely new appreciation of this 1946 hit and one that makes sense — not change simply for change's sake or to strike some sort of musical pose. The entire session is replete with intellectual and emotional surprises and joys. The trio blends totally the objectives of the group as a whole with the individual ideas of each member. This mutuality is heard to specially good effect on "Solar." The Northwest in general and Dave Peck continue to produce jazz music of the highest caliber.