Pianist Orrin Evans pays tribute to his friend and musical partner Bobby Watson on Faith In Action (Posi-Tone, 2010). In this interview, recorded while Evans was on tour in Italy, he talks about the importance of family and friends to his life and career; why he chose the particular Watson compositions that appear on the new album; and how he approaches the task of leading a band. Learn more at www.myspace.com/orrinevans.
Faith in Action
Orrin Evans | Posi-Tone Records (2010)
By
On Faith in Action, his reverent homage to an old boss, saxophonist Bobby Watson, Orrin Evans plays with his heart on his sleeve, gliding right down to his bare fingertips. Here is a pianist who channels masters from Thelonious Monk to Bud Powell and Bill Evans. However, through it all Evans is his own man, a singular voice that combines the precision of a surgeon and the compassion of a saint in an attack on the keys that is so angular and delightful that dancing feet and swaying bodies may never stop moving and grooving. Evans displays a superb ability to express the emotion of the music. This makes his reading of songs he aims to interpret taut with feeling. His solos comprise well-chosen notes and short phrases that reveal ideas that are fresh, inventive, and always relevant. Thus he goads his musicians—especially those in his current trio(s)—to reach further and deeper into their hearts and minds, to respond with equal measures of invention.
Watson has high praise indeed for the music on this album. And this is well merited by Evans. He deconstructs melody, probing every nook and cranny of the texture of sound to uncover the rich overtones of notes. These he inhabits as he rolls around on the keyboard, tossing and turning the new things he has discovered. His darting use of harmonics, often played with a sustained pedal and varied dynamics, in the way he strikes the notes makes his interpretations more resonant and infinitely memorable because of the echoes as the notes bounce off the capillaries of the mind’s ear. The four-dimensional sound of “Appointment in Milano” provides a wonderful example of this aspect of his music. But he is a chameleon, too. For instance, on “Beattitudes,” another Watson tune, he is more subdued, even circumspect. His voice is clipped, almost as if he were speaking softly instead of singing. Then, toward the middle of the piece, he becomes restless and florid and begins to vocalize in myriad voices.
Evans continues to surprise and catch the listener off guard throughout the length and breadth of the album. Breadth is, indeed, the operative word, as the music he plays has a sweeping nature, creating large canvases of sound. Even on short elegiac pieces such as “Matthew’s Song” and the jitterbug-like “MAT-Matt,” composed for his children, he pushes the boundaries of tone and texture almost to the breaking point. However brittle this might sound initially, Evans bounces around the drums of Nasheet Waits and the bass of Luques Curtis, pushing hard against anything that might become a barrier to broadening the scope of his sound.
It is clear that Evans is brimming with ideas. However, an ultimate fade to black on the album is inevitable. Still, it is here that Evans seems only to retreat into a thoughtful silence to ponder the twists and turns of his next wonderfully surprising project.
Track listing: Don’t Call Me Wally; Faith in Action; Wheel Within Wheel; Appointment in Milano; Matthew’s Song; Beattitudes; MAT-Matt; Love Remains; Two Steppin With Dawn; Why Not.
Personnel: Orrin Evans: piano; Luques Curtis: bass; Nasheet Waits: drums; Rocky Bryant: drums (3); Gene Jackson: drums (5, 9).
By Russ Musto
Ever evolving, keyboardist Orrin Evans continues to develop his personal voice and innovative vision of the jazz piano trio tradition, both in terms of repertory and dynamics. On Faith In Action, the versatile player joins forces with his regular rhythm-section mate from trumpeter Sean Jones’ group, bassist Luques Curtis, and fellow TARBABY collaborator, drummer Nasheet Waits. The program is divided equally between compositions by the leader’s former employer, saxophonist Bobby Watson, and works from his own Philadelphia household—three originals penned by himself and one each from his wife, vocalist Dawn Warren and their young son, Matthew.
Watson’s songbook is melodically appealing, delightfully lyrical and harmonically luxuriant, enduringly linked to the saxophonist’s distinctive bittersweet sound, so Evans’ interpretation of the repertoire sans horn is an audacious undertaking, reflecting the insight Evans gained as a member of Watson’s Horizon group. Evans’ Monk-to-McCoy influenced style is well suited to the daunting task as he thoughtfully mines each melody, pensively searching for his own soul within “Appointment In Milano,” “Beattitudes,” “Love Remains,” the title track and “Wheel Within A Wheel” (where drummer Rocky Bryant sits in), expressing their beauty and strength in his increasingly identifiable personal manner.
Evans’ insistently exploratory approach to performance is no less evident on his own three pieces, “Don’t Call Me Wally,” “MAT-Matt” and “Two Steppin With Dawn,” as well as Warren’s “Why Not” and 11-year-old “Matthew’s Song,” consistently eschewing the mechanical churning out of chord changes common to less creative pianists of his generation. The Curtis and Waits team—and Gene Jackson, who takes over for the latter on two tunes—remain surefooted throughout, faithfully following the pianist as he sets out on his own perilous path, wherein challenges are consistently welcomed and risks regularly rewarded.
Track listing: Don’t Call Me Wally; Faith In Action; Wheel Within A Wheel; Appointment In Milano; Matthews Song; Beattitudes; MAT-Matt; Love Remains; Two Steppin with Dawn; Why Not.
Personnel: Orrin Evans: piano; Luques Curtis: bass; Nasheet Waits: drums; Rocky Bryant: drums; Gene Jackson: drums.
by Bruce Lindsay
Faith In Action is Orrin Evans’ first album on Posi-Tone Records and serves to further enhance the reputation of this New York-based pianist. The album is, in part, a tribute to and interpretation of the music of his friend and mentor, saxophonist Bobby Watson, who contributes five of the twelve tunes. It’s a fine tribute, indeed, and demonstrates Evans’ own talents as a player and interpreter.
Evans’ own compositions have immediate impact—especially the opening “Don’t Call Me Wally,” which is driven not only by Evans’ hard-hitting piano but by some fine rhythm work from drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Luques Curtis. “MAT-Matt” is complex and changeable, regularly shifting rhythmically and stylistically. In its opening section the band plays freely, before Evans shifts to a repetitive, percussive, style. Before long, the trio enters a hard bop section via a short burst of swinging lyricism, until Waits’ brief solo drum part takes the tune into a slow and reflective ending. The more playful “Two Steppin With Dawn” features drummer Gene Jackson, with Evans returning to a hard-hitting and percussive style. Jackson suits this number admirably, hitting just the right groove to maintain the tune’s dynamism.
Watson’s compositions have the greatest emotional impact, however. “Faith In Action” is a gorgeous tune which Evans interprets with skill and empathy. On “Beattitudes,” Evans performs solo on another beautiful tune, once again finding an emotional connection that is clearly expressed in his playing. Best of all is “Love Remains,” with Waits and Curtis once again outstanding, while Evans is at his most delicate and affecting.
Faith In Action succeeds as a tribute to Bobby Watson, but it also succeeds as a demonstration of Evans’ talents, and as an enjoyable, creative recording by musicians at the top of their game.
Track listing: Don’t Call Me Wally; Faith in Action; Wheel Within a Wheel; Appointment in Milano; Matthew’s Song; Beattitudes; MAT-Matt; Love Remains; Two Steppin with Dawn; Why Not.
Personnel: Orrin Evans: piano; Luques Curtis: bass; Nasheet Waits: drums (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10); Rocky Bryant: drums (3); Gene Jackson: drums (5, 9).
by by Michael G. Nastos
Jazz pianist Orrin Evans has been knocking on the door of stardom in jazz for a full decade, but with Faith in Action, it seems he’s really hit his stride. As a performer he’s a more confident improviser willing to take chances, while also retaining a sweetness and lighthearted approach that reflects the romantic inside. These ten tracks are equally split compositionally between him and obvious mentor Bobby Watson, all in trio settings with bassist Luques Curtis and with drummer Nasheet Waits featured on seven tracks; Waits is replaced on two cuts by Gene Jackson and on another track by Rocky Bryant. How Evans plays in giddy highs or serene lows is impressive, with little gray area shown or needed. Tunes by Watson are quite well-known, but without horns are still full and rich. The title track was made famous by John Hicks simply as “Faith,” a brilliant 6/8 in 4/4 organ of beauty as Evans digs into its ultimately pristine melody. Watson’s most acclaimed composition when he was with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, “Wheel Within a Wheel” is spare but no less vibrant; “Appointment in Milano” is a modal two-fisted bopper where Evans goes a bit out and crazed; while “Love Remains” is an ultimate romantic, late-night, steamy piece built for intimacy. Evans wrote “Don’t Call Me Wally” in a delightful funk to swing beat, deft but still lean; “MAT-Matt” is very combustible and spontaneous, stopping and starting back up; and “Why Not” closes in a easy swing unlike the rest. Summarily this is the most ambitious effort, and also one that shows the innate common sense of Orrin Evans. He is no longer emerging, but now established as a skilled and experienced young to middle-aged mainstream jazzman who should be around making great music for a long time.
www.winnipegfreepress.com
ORRIN EVANS
Faith in Action (Posi-Tone)
Pianist Orrin Evans leads a crack trio here on a 10-tune disc that is largely a tribute to alto saxophonist Bobby Watson, who gave Evans an early break.
Evans is a daring, lyrical player, and he and band-mates bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Nasheet Waits make terrific music that is entertaining, challenging and just plain enjoyable.
Evans’ compositions include the opener Don’t Call Me Wally, with its hints of Monk, and the terrific Two Steppin’ with Dawn. Evans is a joy to listen to, especially in a trio of this calibre.
ORRIN EVANS
Faith in Action (Posi-Tone)
Pianist Orrin Evans leads a crack trio here on a 10-tune disc that is largely a tribute to alto saxophonist Bobby Watson, who gave Evans an early break.
Evans is a daring, lyrical player, and he and band-mates bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Nasheet Waits make terrific music that is entertaining, challenging and just plain enjoyable.
Evans’ compositions include the opener Don’t Call Me Wally, with its hints of Monk, and the terrific Two Steppin’ with Dawn. Evans is a joy to listen to, especially in a trio of this calibre. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö
— Chris Smith
by Michael Kabran
Favorite Piano Album:
Orrin Evans—Faith in Action (Posi-Tone)
I’ll be one of the first jazz fans to admit it: the jazz piano trio format usually bores me to tears and makes me value my Nation of Ulysses albums as if they were the last drops of Alagash Curieux in the universe (though, I usually do anyway). While there are certainly some phenomenal piano trio albums in the history of jazz—Oscar Peterson, Brad Mehldau, Bill Evans, to name a few—most of the trio albums I’ve heard in recent years were self-indulgent exercises in musical masturbation. They essentially served as demo recordings, creating a relatively inexpensive means for the pianist to obtain gigs and earn coveted positions in the bands of larger fish. That being said, young jazz tuna (the term “lion” is so overused!) Orrin Evans’ latest effort, Faith in Action, is one of the best trio recordings I’ve heard in recent time. I’ll cut to the chase: it’s accessible, filled with bluesy solos, swinging rhythms, and playful harmonies. Most importantly, this music is overflowing with emotion, passion, soul, and humor—and all from a trio! Drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Luques Curtis kill.
Orrin Evans- Faith in Action (Posi-tone Records)
(Recorded at Acoustic Recording, Brooklyn.)
Pianist Evans’ CD is primarily a collection of interpretations of Bobby Watson’s compositions. The end result is a beautiful album- open, elegant, vibrant. Faith in Action is a great starting point for anyone unfamiliar with Evans’ unwavering musical prowess or the great Watson.
Standout Tracks: Wheel Within A Wheel; Appointment in Milano; Beattitudes; MAT-Matt; Love Remains.