King, Jonny: Melt Down (The)

While Jonny King's original influences were his mentor Mulgrew Miller and McCoy Tyner, he displays an increasingly individual voice on The Meltdown, both as a pianist and as a writer. All the songs on the date are his except Bud Powell's "So Sorry Please," and which is taken as a brief unaccompanied piano solo, and Tyner's "For Tomorrow," and the originals are often quite complex; check out the advanced vamp on "Lady Macbeth." The modal waltz "For Tomorrow" deserves to be covered by others, but several of the other pieces are also worth exploring by musicians looking to freshen up their repertoire. Fortunately, King picked out some very talented players for the date — flexible and skilled enough to make the music seem almost effortless. Steve Wilson on soprano and alto in particular is a major asset; tenorman David Sanchez gets in some good spots; trombonist Steve Davis is fine; the excellent rhythm section includes bassist Larry Grenadier, drummer Billy Drummond and percussionist Milton Cardona. A particularly strong effort.