Pianist
Chris Parker
's
Late In Lisbon
, which consists of ten of his originals, gets off to a particularly strong start with a heated and tricky 36-bar
calypso
number,
"Calypso Facto,"
which features fluent and spirited solos from
Peter Epstein
on soprano sax,
Parker
, and violinist
Rob Thomas
. While
"The Chimney"
is funky,
"The Return"
(which finds
Epstein
in top form on alto) is driving and has a catchy forward momentum stated by bassist
Tony Marino
.
"Under The Bridge"
has plenty of fire, while the title track,
"Late In Lisbon,"
is a bit reminiscent of
Chick Corea
's post-
Return To Forever
work, and
"The Thought Of Seeing You"
is a melancholy
ballad
"The Long Way Around"
has a catchy groove not too far from
"Freedom Jazz Dance,"
and the extended
"There's Been A Slight Change Of Plans"
features a mysterious and oddly appealing groove.
"Night Song"
is introspective, and the closing
"Passage"
is an upbeat groover. Throughout this set, the consistently colorful solos of
,
and
Thomas
, with fine backup work from
Marino
, drummer
Marko Marcinko
, and (on two numbers) percussionist
Bob Velez
, makes this a particularly strong and memorable release of fairly accessible modern
jazz
. ~ Scott Yanow