Gabe Evens Trio, The Wrong Waltz Review

Jazz

Gabe Evens Trio, The Wrong Waltz Review 2

Pianist and composer Gabe Evens is the Assistant Professor of Jazz Piano, Composition and Arranging at the University of Louisville, Jamey Aebersold Jazz Studies Program. Evens is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, which is a process that attempts to develop the ability to avoid unnecessary muscular tension by retraining physical movement reactions. Evens holds an MA in Jazz Piano Performance from the University of Miami, and a DMA in Performance, major in Jazz studies (composition emphasis) from the University of North Texas. Evens has released his sixth album of original compositions, The Wrong Waltz. The album is presented in a piano trio format featuring: Lynn Seaton on acoustic bass, Ed Soph on drums, and Gabe Evens on piano. The compositions traverse a wide variety of styles, elements from bebop, hard-bop, fusion, and modal genres can all be heard throughout the music. Evens creates something enjoyable for all music lovers, that’s the short of it!

Positives:

Evens compositions are very lyrical melodically, with surprising harmonic twists and turns and presented with great feels. The trio has a confident conversational style that really comes through in their playing, theses cats listen hard, which translates to a great set of music!

Bottom Line:

Evens’ compositions are modern and convey a fresh take on the jazz canon. The trio sets wonderful moods for each composition and their intent listening unfolds beautiful improvisations. All ten tracks convey a strong sense of creativity and positive energy, giving The Wrong Waltz a distinct sound of confident original jazz. It maybe the wrong waltz, but it feels so right!

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