Curveball

Pianist Geoff Keezer's second CD as a leader was recorded a few months before his nineteenth birthday and his takeover of the piano chair in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, the ultimate on-the-job training school for jazz musicians. But Keezer's no wet-behind-the-ears overconfident whippersnapper, there's a surprising maturity and confidence in both his playing and his compositions. His jagged post-bop opener "The Jackleg Patrol" and the title track are very catchy, with the latter having the flavor of the early records that Chick Corea and Gary Burton made together. Keezer is joined by the aggressive veteran vibraphonist Steve Nelson, the superb drummer Victor Lewis, and the relatively young bassist Charnett Moffett, all of whom provide strong support for the teenage leader.