Essential

Jean-Michel Pilc – solo piano

Credits

Recorded at The Fazioli Piano Loft at Union Country Performing Arts Center, Rahway, NJ
Produced by Jim Luce & Jean-Michel Pilc
Executive Producer: Jana Herzen
Recorded by Jim Luce
Mastered by Jim Luce and Duke Markos
Design: Rebecca Meek
Photography: Jim Rice

Released: May, 10 2011
Label: Motéma Music

Reviews

This intimate solo album, recorded live at the Fazioli Piano Loft of the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, N.J., captures pianist Jean-Michel Pilc during two nights of pure improvisation. The former Parisian, a New Yorker since 1995, made his name with his acclaimed trio featuring bassist François Moutin and drummer Ari Hoenig. Here, Pilc, known for his remarkable technique and fondness for the unpredictable, adventurously reinvents standards such as “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Blue in Green” and “I Remember You,” tackling Chopin’s “Waltz No. 3 in A Minor” and presenting a number of new originals with equal parts skill, gusto and creativity. Also included is video from a private session held during the same engagement.

Pilc opens his bold rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” with a thunderous roar; he then mutes and taps his instrument’s strings, going in and out of the melody as he alternates rumbling, angular and delicate sonorities. A brief, enigmatic remake of the folk ballad “Scarborough Fair” conjures an amusing yet spine-chilling theme park; similarly hopeful and ominous moods simultaneously permeate “Someday My Prince Will Come.” Several of Pilc’s own tunes are infused with a like tension between playfulness and reflection, navigating the ethereal, lyrical and discordant: The title track, a tender blues ballad, is tinged with dissonance, and a series of six “Etudes-Tableaux” traverses European classical music, boogie, bop, pop and beyond. Pilc’s spirited version of “Mack the Knife” closes the set with his unique humor and elegance. Clearly in the moment, Pilc delivers a captivating set filled with unexpected twists and turns. ~ by Sharonne Cohen July 20, 2011. JazzTimes

Jean-Michel Pilc emerged as one of the rising young European jazz pianists, recording a number of CDs on the Continent, though he had long since become a naturalized American. He makes his debut for a U.S. label with his live solo piano album Essential, a striking mix of fresh interpretations of widely recorded songs and his innovative originals. It would be interesting to imagine what Duke Ellington would say about Pilc’s reworking of “Caravan,” a playful mix of dramatic chords, uptempo lines, and hand-muting of strings without losing the essence of this timeless composition. He utilizes a disguised introduction to “Someday My Prince Will Come” that incorporates a childlike singing bassline with a piercing staccato chord in his right hand, though he transforms it into a musical daydream that ventures far from the expected route. Pilc’s choppy setting of “Take the ‘A’ Train” also detours onto a new path, incorporating licks from earlier piano giants and adding tricks of his own. It is almost impossible not to laugh aloud hearing Pilc’s comic twists in his deliberate arrangement of “Mack the Knife.” Pilc has long established himself as a promising composer as well. His six movement “Etude” is a versatile suite that touches on many musical bases. “Essential” suggests a late-night set-closing blues, though the jagged, dark chords accompanying its warm melody quickly change that feeling. Pilc’s “Sam” is a pretty ballad with just a touch of melancholy in its brief two minutes. Those who quickly bypass Jean-Michel Pilc’s Essential, believing it to be a compilation of earlier recordings, will miss one of the gems of 21st century jazz piano. – Ken Dryden