CD Review: Steve Allee Trio
BY CHUCK GRAHAM
Published: 10.11.2007
"Colors" (Owl Studios)
Want to feel sophisticated without working at it too hard? Who doesn't?
Pour a single malt scotch on the rocks and listen to this album. Steve Allee plays a lyrical piano with thoughtful progressions that feel fresh and imaginative. Yet like a fantastic conversationalist, he has the knack for making the listener feel smarter. It is his talent, to be sure.
Maybe that unassuming air comes from being based in Indianapolis. His current online itinerary finds him in New York playing in a quartet with Randy Brecker and doing a duo gig with bassist Rufus Reid, then zipping back home to work in a quartet with saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman. Imagine if you had a life where you never had to talk to interesting people.
On this CD, Allee is joined by Bill Moring, bass, and Tim Horner, drums. Moring plays the kind of bass that - if it was a person - would be glowing with muscular fitness. A throbbing accompaniment of manly resonance reassuring for its presence.
Horner, in contrast, plays with sticks that sound clean and crisp as a top-shelf vodka poured through half-a-dozen extra filters. Together all three create jazz art that thrives on sensitivity. The 10-title song list includes a couple of standards. The rest are Allee originals built on power and elegance both muscular and intoxicating.
grade: A