JazzNights 25 - Frank Kimbrough, Matt Wilson, Dean Johnson

Mr. Kimbrough is one of the most versatile and brilliant of today's pianists. He is not only a superb leader, but an accompanist of note - always a good sign. Think of some of the great accompanists - Tommy Flanagan, Bruce Barth, and Kenny Barron come quickly to mind - not a bad start to an all-star list! Two of his recent CDs, Play (2006, with Masa Kamaguchi and Paul Motian) and Lullabluebye (2004, with Ben Allison and Matt Wilson) are among my very favorite piano trio collections and have received their proper share of critical acclaim. Here are just a couple of comments on Play and the Kimbrough trio:

"...the album depicts the three musicians in an elevated state, engaged in intimate and often sparkling conversation. Their colloquy is long on sustain and enigma, with compositions that frequently heed a stately, crawling abstraction...But there are also bright flashes of elastic swing...There, and throughout the album, oblique procedures are softened by genuinely catchy melodies."

Nate Chinen, The New York Times

"The second week of January was one of phenomenal piano trios....However, Frank Kimbrough's (with bassist Ben Allison and drummer Matt Wilson) - one of the most subtle and challenging while swinging and accessible working threesomes - stole the spotlight for their single-night at Sweet Rhythm. Never a monotonous moment, they embellished without hesitation, thrusting momentum forward with occasional collective pauses allowing for single notes or beats to breathe just long enough to add an ever-elastic tension. Creativity (is) noticeably at the heart of this ever-musical, dynamic, and underrated trio"

Laurence Donohue-Greene, All About Jazz New York, Feb. 2005

In a musical world all too often fragmented, in which groups rapidly come and go and infrequently remain together long enough for real empathy to develop, Frank Kimbrough is interested in long-term projects. In 1992, for example, he joined the Jazz Composers Collective, an organization that has prospered over the years, and not only produced a series of remarkable CDs and concerts of new music, but spun off the marvelous Herbie Nichols Project, which Mr. Kimbrough co-leads with bassist Ben Allison. The Nichols Project has kept alive the work of Mr. Nichols, a much-neglected pianist and composer who many compare to Monk in creative impact. Mr. Kimbrough also has a long association with the Maria Schneider Orchestra, and was the pianist on her most recent five-star (only two all year) CD, Sky Blue. Here is Ms. Schneider on Frank Kimbrough:

"He knows where to leave space," she said. "He's very sensitive. He wraps himself around each soloist and takes care to go in the direction they're going and is really supportive. I hear things he plays and think 'Oh God if only I could write that.' Sometimes he'll finish an introduction and I'll think 'I don't even want to hear my music after that. It's over. Lets just end with that.'"

I think my most memorable time hearing Mr. Kimbrough live was his May, 2006 duet evening with his long-time teacher-associate-hero Paul Bley at Merkin Concert Hall. The review in the New York Times the next day was luminous and the performance made Time Out's list of the best performances of the year. I couldn't agree more; it was spectacular, on-the-edge music. As I've said here (too?) many times, one of the big attractions of this wonderful music is its without-a-net, in-the-moment dangerous aspect. Here's one more quote, this time from Kimbrough himself, on that subject:

"Music should be a living, breathing thing. Maybe you put yourself into a situation sometimes where you might be terrified. You might be one millimeter from failure. That's alright because in those situations you're very present."

Matt Wilson has been in Frank Kimbrough's trio for some time, and they seem to have an unusual rapport. That's not surprising because Mr. Wilson is an especially musical percussionist. Perhaps that quality comes from his earliest experience with drums - the third grade - when his saved-up-for Ludwig 9a sticks had nothing to play on but pots and pans. He also mentions JC Combs percussion class at Wichita State in which:

"We played percussion works featuring a wide array of strange components. Pinball machines, cloggers, bowlers and professional wrestlers all were standard fare."

Boston and New York followed Kansas, and soon he was playing with Fred Hersch, Ingrid Jensen, Cecil McBee, Dewey Redman and, of course, Frank Kimbrough. He is leader of one of today's most interesting small groups, Arts and Crafts, with Terell Stafford, Larry Goldings, and Dennis Irwin. 

Dean Johnson is another frequent associate of both Kimbrough and Wilson. His musical sensibility was molded by a ten-year association with Gerry Mulligan, and he has performed with many of todays best: Lee Konitz, Wynton Marsallis, Steve Kuhn, Joe Lovano, and Dave Douglas. He's a frequent collaborator of the fine singer Maryanne DeProphetis, and trumpeter/cornetist Ron Horton.

Some recommended CDs:

Frank Kimbrough:

Lullabluebye, Palmetto, 2004

Play, Palmetto, 2006

And coming January, 2008, Air, Palmetto (solo piano)

Watch also for Verrazano Moon, OmniTone, 2008, Joe Locke-Frank Kimbrough Duo, recorded just about the time of their appearance at JazzNights 14, 2006

Matt Wilson:

Arts and Crafts, Palmetto, 2003

Wake Up!, Palmetto, 2004

Dean Johnson:

Thank You, Gerry, Arkadia, 1998