John Taylor As it is

John Taylor - Requiem For A Dreamer (2011) {CAM Jazz CAMJ 7834-2}
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© 2011 CAM Jazz | CAMJ 7834-2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Piano

John Taylor’s fabulous trio, plus Julian Arguelles on sax… The successful trio reunites for another classically elegant recording, this time adding a sax, which spontaneously and seamlessly blends in to make this a striking and remarkable album. Like an oxymoron in chiaroscuro, the music by the English pianist in his latest “Requiem For A Dreamer” moves with a complex simplicity; the simplicity of listening and the lyricism of the melody contrasted by a formal richness and research that is beyond simple or trivial.

A solo programme of Taylor performing all his own music virtually guarantees something out of the ordinary. So it proves here. In a beautiful exposition of sweepingly romantic piano playing, he creates a series of moods, by turns sad, nostalgic, joyful, dancing and playful, which have a suggestive capacity as varied as their emotional climate, though his titles don't always give a clue; Wych Hazel is more like the memory of a past love, for example. He's also a great melodist; both In Cologne and the very different In February are stunningly beautiful examples of his ability to come up with charming themes and match them with equally beguiling solos. And three short, free pieces show, paradoxically, how disciplined and imaginative, in terms of line and harmony, he is in a context like this. Lovely

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