Avenging Angel cover

Avenging Angel

Released

Avenging Angel charted pianist Craig Taborn on the map of unaccompanied improvisation—a territory largely claimed, of course, by Keith Jarrett.  But Taborn holds his own, not least of all because he graciously avoids such comparisons beyond the paper on which they’re written. Taborn has an uncanny ability to make the keys speak as much as sing, as in the lullaby sweetness of “This Voice Says So.” And while there is plenty of drama to behold (to wit: “Spirit Hard Knock”), it never loses clarity of visual impact. The culminating “This Is How You Disappear” beckons one relisten after another.

Tyran Grillo

Recommended by

Suggestions
Squeeze Me Ahead of Line cover

Squeeze Me Ahead of Line

The Season Standard
Stories from the Shed cover

Stories from the Shed

The Wrong Object
Equilibrium cover

Equilibrium

Matthew Shipp
In Flux cover

In Flux

Ravi Coltrane
Azure cover

Azure

Gary Peacock, Marilyn Crispell
Budapest Concert cover

Budapest Concert

Keith Jarrett
Made Possible cover

Made Possible

The Bad Plus
Setting Standards: The New York Sessions cover

Setting Standards: The New York Sessions

Jack DeJohnette, Gary Peacock, Keith Jarrett