Beirach Hubris

In the '70s, pianist Richard Beirach pioneered a distinctive type of ethereal jazz, characterized by lush, polytonal harmonies and frequent outbursts of angular, high-velocity lines that broke up the austere moods of his compositions. This beautiful trio outing with bassist George Mraz and drummer Jack DeJohnette is classic Beirach, and as apt an example of the "ECM sound" as one will find. The piano reverberates in concert hall fashion, even as the bass and drums interact with a looseness, and often an explosiveness, that is anything but cold and removed. There are only five tracks on Elm, but because each presents a different aspect of Beirach's music, the album is satisfying and quite whole. The opener, "Sea Priestess," presents deceptively simple harmonies over a lilting even-eighth groove…