Players - Downbeat

“So it’s not Cecil Taylor. It’s not Art Tatum. I have a long list
of who they are not. Because of the noise of the rhythm section it’s
difficult to judge the pianist. But this is not a record that I am going
to buy when I go out.”
Told it was Tristano, Solal was not pleased. “You chose exactly
the record where they are not at their top. I hope when you choose
one of mine one day, you will ask me before. Lennie Tristano is
one of the greatest stylists of the piano also. The four pianists you
chose are each in their category alone, I could say. They are so
themselves that you should recognize it on the first note. But I’m
no good!”
Next up was Hank Jones performing Thelonious Monk’s
“’Round Midnight” (Bop Redux, Muse, 1977), another staple of
Solal’s repertoire. “I know the melody—but I don’t know the
words,” Solal joked. “When I first arrived in New York, they told
me that in New York there were 8,000 piano players. This makes
the exercise difficult. I am not sure if this is a pianist from New
York.” He paused. “By the way, I wish that you would make me
hear some non-American musicians, because they exist, too.”
The crowd applauded vigorously.
“I am not a political man,” Solal added. “But maybe this is one
of them. It’s not Monk himself playing this. He has too much technique
for Monk. He has not enough technique for Tatum. He is
somewhere in the middle of different influences. There are so
many excellent pianists in New York.”
It was time to showcase French pianist Jean-Michel Pilc romping
through Monk’s “Straight, No Chaser” in kaleidoscopic fashion
(New Dreams, Dreyfus, 2007).
“I’m sure I know him, but I can’t find the name,” Solal said. “I
like the energy—the sense of jazz and energy and good feeling.”
Afterward, he said, “I almost thought Jean-Michel. He is too
Solal at his live
“Blindfold Test”
in Umbria
COURTESY UMBRIA JAZZ
April 2009 DOWNBEAT 57