This post is by Dan
Recorded February 26 and 27, 1986
Enrico Pieranunzi is an Italian pianist born in 1949. His first recordings began to appear in 1975 on local Italian labels such as Edipan. By the 1980s, he was receiving awards for his records, notably on the fledgling Soul Note label. Isis, a straight-ahead jazz album that included Art Farmer, was released in 1982. Many albums followed, and Soul Note's global marketing brought him to the attention of the U.S. audience. He continued recording not only with American artists such as Chet Baker and Lee Konitz, but also with Europeans who also received global exposure thanks to him.
The first recording by Pieranunzi's trio with Marc Johnson and Joey Baron was New Lands (Timeless, 1984). Two years later, they recorded Deep Down in Milano. As one of their earlier efforts, Deep Down gives a good forecast of what was to come. The group has stayed together for eight additional albums, as listed below. Obviously, they discovered something valuable in the collaboration and kept it going.
Nat Hentoff wrote the insightful liner notes to Deep Down. His description of the wholeness of Pieranunzi's music struck me as a more articulate expression of my own "no wrong notes" criterion, which I've used to describe my favorite pianists. Hentoff writes:
"When I first heard this album by Enrico Pieranunzi, what struck me most forcefully was the wholeness of his music. I mean it all fits - the ideas, the remarkably deep and full sound he gets from the piano, and the romantic impulse."
In my opinion, wholeness speaks to the core artistry of piano jazz. It's not something you necessarily write out on sheet music. Rather, it appears to result from practice, study, rehearsal, and the coherence of an artist's imagination. Pieranunzi's imagination is vast, as he shows on this album.
The closing number on Deep Down, "Evans Remembered," acknowledges the pervasive influence of Bill Evans over the trio's art. Johnson, of course, played in Evans' band on a series of excellent Warner Brothers albums near the end of the pianist's life. Baron is a sensitive and lyrical drummer who meshes perfectly with a trio in which each player serves as a supportive yet individual voice.
Whether playing standards, original compositions by Pieranunzi, or the music of Ennio Morricone, the trio's music always finds new angles and variations. Their collective imagination seems inexhaustible over the course of so many albums. I can easily recommend Deep Down and the albums listed below to lovers of piano trio jazz.
Play Morricone (2001)
Current Conditions (2003)
Morricone 2 (2004)
Ballads (2006)
Live in Japan (2007)
As Never Before (with Kenny Wheeler) (2008)
Dream Dance (2009)
An interesting and unknown selection.
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