The Musical Box : Musings on music from Walter Tunis

Then again, Genovese had plenty of mad notes of his own to make use of during the 90-minute trio performance with bassist Francesco Marcocci and drummer Jeff Williams. One of the most fascinating examples came at the program’s onset when the pianist briefly shed the Argentine inspirations that so rapturously inform his playing to jump head first into pure Americana.

The show opening “Wayfaring Stranger” began as an exhibition of Bill Evans-inspired grace but quickly blew up into a more open-ended blues where the tune’s central melody sounded less like the Western elegy so many artists have interpreted (Genovese told the crowd he learned the tune from a Johnny Cash record) and more like the sweaty, soulful chorus of Gershwin’s “Summertime.”

There were still plenty of voyages to more exotic ports, though, as in “Caminito,” a nearly century-old tango from Genovese’s native Argentina. Here a similar sense of lyrical grace and introspection prefaced a sense of ensemble mischief led by a series of playful jabs from the pianist that punctured the tune enough for it to breath with an almost respiratory rhythm.

Along those lines, a Moroccan inspired melody where Genovese played melodica with his left hand and piano with his right served as an intro to the more tranquil trio exchanges within “Song for Healing.”

In one extreme, Genovese’s playing throughout the performance favored subtlety by either relaxing a tune’s central melody or deconstructing it altogether. But when Marcocci and Williams were in full gear, the pianist responded with solos where every open space was utilized. Melodic fragments would gather and, more often than not, bottleneck until they would erupt into fascinating outbursts. When such parallels were presented, as in the way churchy meditations led into trio frenzy during the premiere of a new Genovese piece titled “Gospel for the Children,” the resulting music became almost episodic in construction.

Special notice needs to be given to the onstage chemistry between Genovese and Williams, a drummer whose career stems back to early ‘70s records with Stan Getz, Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach. There is a near 30-year age gap between Genovese and Williams, yet the drummer followed and then complimented the pianist’s moves with a very natural agility. If Genovese was off on a groove, Williams hammered at the music’s heels. But if the piano runs were more open ended, Williams offered all kinds of colors to enhance what was unfolding. A beautiful case in point: Williams’ manner of guiding “Song for Healing” to a gentle landing with a tap from the hand-held side of a brush against the center of a cymbal.

Genovese ended the evening with “Play Cold,” a tune very much in keeping with its title. The music flipped a melody from an unspecified Coldplay tune Genovese said he has never heard a recording of, turning it first into in a contemplative reverie and then into a trio romp made up equally of delicacy and dynamics. It was a finale that was, you might say, well played.