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Masterclass: Steve Kuhn Trio
Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 12:00 pm
PONCHO Hall, 710 East Roy Street, Seattle, WA
Over a career of a half-century and counting, Steve Kuhn has earned renown as one of the most lyrical and affecting pianists in jazz, with an unfailingly beautiful touch and a sophisticated sense of swing. “Steve is an original stylist,” points out Dan Morgenstern, director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers. “He’s one of the finest pianists out there today.” Jazziz magazine described Kuhn’s distinctive sound: “Few other pianists, regardless of genre, can tease such an evocative range of timbres from their instrument. Kuhn’s lower register is as dark and rich as Belgian chocolate, and his upper register has the light, translucent quality of ice-cold champagne.”
The highlights of Kuhn’s extensive discography include a justly acclaimed series of recordings for the art-house ECM label, his ever-fruitful relationship with founder-producer Manfred Eicher stretching back to the early ‘70s. Kuhn’s latest recording for ECM is Wisteria, released May 1, 2012; the album features the pianist playing his favorite Hamburg Steinway model D alongside two longtime partners: electric bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Joey Baron. Although Kuhn has collaborated with Swallow for more than 50 years and with Baron for more than 20, the three never played as a trio together until the sessions for Wisteria at Avatar Studios in Manhattan. The album’s wistful title number, written by Art Farmer, references the early-‘60s period when Kuhn and Swallow were in the trumpeter’s band together (although it happens to be an early Farmer tune that they never got to play with him). The pianist and bassist know each other’s playing intimately (“he’s the brother I never had,” Kuhn says), and the two share a love for melody – which Wisteria has in abundance. The album includes the lovely Brazilian “Romance” by Dori Caymmi and Carla Bley’s songful “Permanent Wave,” as well as such harder-driving winners as Kuhn’s tune-rich, bop-inflected “A Likely Story.”
As a composer, Kuhn’s songbook is one of quality rather than quantity. He has revisited many pieces repeatedly over the years, revealing their depth anew with each fresh interpretation, like gems held up to different light. Wisteria features several Kuhn compositions encored from his shimmering 2004 orchestral collection Promises Kept, with the new versions of “Promises Kept,” “Adagio,” “Morning Dew” and “Pastorale” still yearning emotively even as they swing with subtle vigor. “I took it as a challenge to reinterpret these songs after Promises Kept, so we put some tempo on them and elaborated things with extra tags and so on,” Kuhn says. “But the music felt like it played itself. There was nothing to prove to each other or anyone else – we just played the music as it felt right to us, with a lot of interplay and affection. What was captured reflects where we are in our lives, really.”
As Kuhn continues to refine his sense of harmonic and rhythmic subtlety, his gift for melodic beauty and his high ideal of collective interplay, he tours throughout the world, with a strong following in Europe and especially Japan, where his albums frequently appear high on the jazz charts. He will be performing extensively on behalf of Wisteria, from New York City’s Birdland to venues far beyond. More than ever, he aims to make every note count. Kuhn had open-heart surgery a decade ago, and that brings an acute sense of one’s mortality. With this in mind, he says: “Music is all about conveying feelings to people. Whether it’s poignancy or elation, I’m going for the visceral response. For me, touching the heart is the bottom line.”
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Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 12:00 pm
PONCHO Hall, 710 East Roy Street, Seattle, WA
