Orrin Evans, Faith in Action

Pianist Orrin Evans has been building to a record this polished and multi-faceted for awhile now, remaining tenaciously idiosyncratic while maturing into a consummate pro. This tribute to his mentor and former bandmate Bobby Watson (who composed half of the ten songs) features improvisations that erupt and unfold with what feel like impulsive immediacy, yet remain fundamentally firm. Evans darts into unexpected crevices, like Monk (check “Don’t Call Me Wally”), pours on the combustible chordal clusters like McCoy Tyner (“Appointment In Milano”), plays ballads that are more human and tactile than “pretty” (“Beattitudes”), and has fun with abrupt, suite-like changes in tone and tempo (“MAT-Mat”), or in riff-swapping with the other members of his trio (the final two songs). At heart, he seems like a hard-bopper, abetted by a slightly sour tone that is the piano equivalent of the nasal tenor-sax of Coleman Hawkins; when he’s twisting phrases into different shapes, it is reminiscent of a harsher Keith Jarrett or Muhal Richard Abrams.

All these comparative references simply underscore the point that Evans ultimately just sounds like himself. Along with the clean sound, the ongoing maturity, and the desire to raise the profile of his buddy Watson, what makes Faith In Action shimmer is the accompaniment by bassist Luques Curtis and especially drummer Nasheet Waits, who has a knack for bringing forth the roses and the thorns in inside-outside pianists such as Andrew Hill and Jason Moran.