Ivory Pianop

Although a quartet is listed on this set (pianist Hal Galper, guitarist John Scofield, bassist Wayne Dockery, and drummer Adam Nussbaum), only three of the selections are performed by the full group. Galper's "Continuity" (one of four of his originals) is a piano/guitar duet; Galper also duets with Dockery on "Yellow Days," but sits out altogether on Scofield's solo rendition of "Monk's Mood." Well-played, if not overly memorable, modern mainstream music.

Lyon-based psychedelic jazz outfit Palm Unit follow up their recent tribute to Jef Gilson on the Supersonic Jazz label by highlighting the revolutionary side of French Jazz figurehead Henri Texier and his fascination with different folkloric traditions from around the world. The session stands as something of an ecological manifesto, recycling Henri’s original com- positions with new settings and arrangements, preserving Henri’s worldview but adding a dense textural base that pushes the session into more cosmic territory.Don’t Buy Ivory Anymore!

Anthony Phillips has turned his Private Parts & Pieces into a cottage industry, with Ivory Moon being the sixth in this series and the first to feature Phillips exclusively on the piano. The album, subtitled "Piano Pieces 1971-1985," includes two sections of music first written for an earlier work, Masquerade, which presumably dates from 1971. All of the pieces, however, were recorded in 1985 at Englewood Studios in London. The songs have an intimate and spontaneous quality, as if Phillips was tinkling the ivories in your own home. And yet, as a solo pianist Phillips is merely adequate, prone to sentimentality and occasionally ham-handed flourishes. In lieu of his earlier Private Parts & Pieces, Ivory Moon is easily eclipsed. more…