Rosslyn

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It's amazing that this is Taylor's first ECM date as a leader - amazing, because he has been something of a "house" pianist for ECM and a member of various ECM groups since the late 1970's, when he was part of the acclaimed Azimuth trio. Of course, being designated as a group leader is sometimes mostly a political thing, and the four ECM trio albums that Taylor recorded with drummer Peter Erskine in the 1990's could just as easily have been led by Taylor, given the interactive nature of the music.

The word "interactive" is always key in Taylor's trio work, which is one reason why he is often compared to pianist Bill Evans, who in a sense invented the chamber jazz piano trio in the late 1950s. Taylor works closely throughout this recording with bassist Marc Johnson, who has marvelous intonation and a highly developed lyrical sense; on many of the seven pieces Johnson carries the melody line almost as much as Taylor, and there's a continual sense of the two of them listening very closely to each other, and working off each other's lines.

Drummer Joey Baron fits right in, using mallets, cymbals, brushes and muted rolls as his understated contributions to the musical conversations. How good is Baron? Well, here's a guy who has been a dynamic part of John Zorn's exuberant, confrontational Masada Quartet for close to ten years, and yet he can play with the delicacy, restraint and taste that he exhibits on this recording. That's versatility.

Taylor's sophisticated harmonic sense represents another obvious parallel with Evans. Even when Taylor is laid back and lyrical - as he is throughout this recording - his music is intellectually challenging, with a resolute avoidance of clichés and other easy solutions. Naturally, he is open to the same charges that were levied against Evans, i.e. much of his music is quiet and introspective, and could be labeled as "cocktail jazz" by an unsophisticated or impatient listener.

To appreciate this CD fully, the listener needs to slow down and pay attention to nuances - things like phrasing, development of themes, and musical interplay. Otherwise, the music is mostly going to sound like merely pleasant tinkling, because it never, ever gets in your face and makes a scene. But quietly elegant highlights on this CD are numerous.

They include the lovely, wistful melodies of "The Bowl Song" and Ralph Towner's "Tramonto" (the former demonstrating Taylor's own considerable abilities as a composer), and the modal, trance-like title piece, which takes Taylor into Keith Jarrett territory, except that Taylor always keeps well within himself, and rather than aping Jarrett's tendencies toward bravura excess, Taylor actually grows more introspective as the piece progresses.

On "Ma Bel," Taylor eases into a sprightlier tempo after a delicate, unaccompanied opening. Likewise, the final selection, "Field Day" (another Taylor original), is taken at a medium tempo, and reveals Taylor's dexterity as well as his taste, demonstrating that he is not just some enervated, hothouse flower but a complete, self-sufficient musician who is perhaps only just a little too modest for his own good. How else to explain his relative obscurity? However, other jazz musicians surely know about Taylor, because his impressive discography indicates that over the years he has seldom lacked for invitations to record and perform with his peers. He's no secret to them.