Tag: Koan

Posted on by

Spike Wilner’s ‘Koan’ Transcends Limiting Piano Trio

mindset2Man, those guys at Posi-Tone are on a roll! Spike Wilner’s Koan is as engaging a piano trio CD as you’ll hope to hear. I thought I was done with basic piano trios but Wilner is so inventive, his originals so, uh, original, his covers so well-picked and performed, that if you have to hear yet another piano trio, let it be he. Of course, bassist Tyler Mitchell and drummer Anthony Pinciotti are both lynchpins to the over-all ambiance. Impeccable and entertaining, this Koan (an ancient Zen Buddhist enigma wrapped in a riddle) is as enlightening as a koan can be.

Ellingtonia, it seems, will never go out of style: “Warm Valley” and “Gypsy Without A Song” go down smooth. The master’s melodies seem to have had an effect on Wilner’s own style of composition. “Iceberg Slim” starts the party. Not sure how this relates to the novelist of the same name as Slim [1918-1992] was a pimp who went on to become a literary icon of street thuggery, so much so that Ice-T and Ice Cube named themselves after him.

Sir Noel Coward [1899-1973] wrote “I’ll See You Again” in 1929 and it’s been covered by Bryan Ferry, Frank Sinatra and dozens of other singers. Divested of lyrical content, Wilner digs down deep into what was once a waltz to unearth its inherent melodic sweetness fit to swoon over.

Tadd Dameron’s 1945 bebop-happy “Hot House” was originally taken from the harmonic structure of Cole Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love” but was bopped up so crazy that older swing fans back in the day just couldn’t swallow its changes. Still, when Bird and Diz got their hands on it, it became a standard. Wilner now joins a long list of interpreters including Chaka Khan, Larry Coryell and James Moody to make the song their own.

Put Koan on at your next party and watch the compliments fly

Mike Greenblatt  – Classicalite.com

Posted on by

Mel Minter’s Musically Speaking blog reviews “Koan” by Spike Wilner

mindset2Pianist Spike Wilner brings a refreshing lack of pretention to his work on the trio recording Koan, with bassist Tyler Mitchell and drummer Anthony Pinciotti. There’s something so easygoing and unassuming in his playing and his compositions that you can’t help but like the man, and the jaunty opener, his original composition “Iceberg Slim,” captures you right at the start. The title track poses thornier questions, which Wilner and his mates answer with a swinging rhythm, quotes from Fats Waller (Wilner stride background peeks out here and there throughout the album), and the pianist’s clean, percussive, rippling right hand. That right hand is the main star of these proceedings, but it’s his left that keeps his “Trick Baby” rolling with its echoes of stride and that shapes his lines in Noel Coward’s “I’ll See You Again.” The selections include a hymnlike rendition of Ellington’s “Warm Valley” and a dancing version of the Duke’s “Gypsy without a Song,” and the trio swings on Tadd Dameron’s finger-breaker “Hot House.” Wilner’s harmonically unsettled “Monkey Mind,” with some very nice counterpoint, explores edgier neighborhoods after a dreamy opening, and his dark, searching, gnarly “Three Ring Circus” is perfectly balanced by the trio’s whimsical take on Johnny Richards’ “Young at Heart.” Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman” begins with mystery and moves through compassion and celebration before retiring once again to contemplate the mystery. Wilner’s anthemic “Blues for the Common Man” closes the proceedings with a determined optimism, with each chorus finding a fresh expression of fellow feeling.

Mel Minter – Musically Speaking blog