POKAZ TRIO - Kintsugi
Losen: LOS224-2
Andrew Pokaz: piano; Vitaliy Fesenko: double bass; Yakov Taruntsov: drums
Recorded 2017 by Max Gladetsky at Muzichi Studio, Kiyv, Ukraine
This piano trio from Odessa merges some swinging jazz with Slavonic folk traditions. The opening track, ‘Slavonic dance’, begins with Fesenko’s solid 5/4 bass line keeping up a stomping pace across the piece, and has Pokaz’s piano shifting between improvising on this bass line and introducing runs with clear folk antecedents. The drum whips in and out of the tune, pushing the rhythm but also lending some harmonic emphasises. This is, in part, down to Taruntsov’s training of piano and drums which given him an ear to the tune and the rhythm. Title track, presented as a trio piece and closing the set as a solo piano, has the feel of a ballad and the complexity of a classical etude. As a solo piece, it draws the listener, with an insistent left hand playing almost a morse-code pattern, and delicate trills that weave a feeling on Chopin into the tune. As a trio piece, the emphasis shifts a little with bass and hi-hat picking up the tempo while still keeping the delicacy of the tune. This mix of jazz rhythms, classical phrasing and the use of folk tunes creates a sound that the trio have made entirely their own and which they work into richly rewarding tunes, playing as a well-honed unit.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Losen: LOS224-2
Andrew Pokaz: piano; Vitaliy Fesenko: double bass; Yakov Taruntsov: drums
Recorded 2017 by Max Gladetsky at Muzichi Studio, Kiyv, Ukraine
This piano trio from Odessa merges some swinging jazz with Slavonic folk traditions. The opening track, ‘Slavonic dance’, begins with Fesenko’s solid 5/4 bass line keeping up a stomping pace across the piece, and has Pokaz’s piano shifting between improvising on this bass line and introducing runs with clear folk antecedents. The drum whips in and out of the tune, pushing the rhythm but also lending some harmonic emphasises. This is, in part, down to Taruntsov’s training of piano and drums which given him an ear to the tune and the rhythm. Title track, presented as a trio piece and closing the set as a solo piano, has the feel of a ballad and the complexity of a classical etude. As a solo piece, it draws the listener, with an insistent left hand playing almost a morse-code pattern, and delicate trills that weave a feeling on Chopin into the tune. As a trio piece, the emphasis shifts a little with bass and hi-hat picking up the tempo while still keeping the delicacy of the tune. This mix of jazz rhythms, classical phrasing and the use of folk tunes creates a sound that the trio have made entirely their own and which they work into richly rewarding tunes, playing as a well-honed unit.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
