Rain's Dance

Pianist Jim McNeely, who includes stints with Ted Curson, Stan Getz, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, and Phil Woods on his lengthy resume, has been gradually recognized by the jazz public as a terrific composer, but these 1976 sessions, which mark one of his earliest dates as a leader, show him to be a very advanced writer at an early stage of his career. The hypnotic opener, "Wishful Thinking," features Larry Schneider on soprano sax in a modal setting. McNeely switches to electric piano for his playful "Little Green Men." On the catchy "Tipe Tizwe," based on a traditional African folk song, the leader plays both piano and African thumb piano (which is rarely heard in jazz), and is joined only by percussionist Sam Jacobs. "Rain's Dance" is a driving post-bop composition that marks the typical ebb and flow in the intensity of a summer storm; it's heard in two separate takes, featuring fine solos by McNeely, bassist Mike Richmond, and Larry Schenider on tenor sax. This adventurous date by Jim McNeely is well worth acquiring.