David Doruzka - Silently Dawning - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

David Friesen - Paths Beyond Tracing [COMPACT DISCS] date 03/11/1997

Pianist interact seamlessly w. Ed Howard & Leon Parker - they're 3 young veterans at the top of their game, cranking out 10 pieces ranging from Monk to American Songbook to some originals.

Pianist David Kikoski, who's partnered so ably on past Criss Cross albums with horn men like Alex Sipiagin, Seamus Blake, Conrad Herwig and Wycliffe Gordon, is perhaps best known for a series of compelling trio albums he's recorded for the tag over the past decade. Now along comes Almost Standards, on which he mixes it up with bassist Eric Revis (Betty Carter, Louis Hayes, Billy Harper and a bunch of Marsalis family members), and much-in-demand drummer Jeff InchTainInch Watts (Branford Marsalis), and an invigorating presence on two earlier Kikoski CDs. The new album's a mix of material serving as takeoff points this time out harmonically intriguing tunes that are already standards or probably ought to be.