Glenn Zaleski

“My Ideal”

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I first became aware of the playing of the young Brooklyn based pianist Glenn Zaleski in March 2015 when he appeared at Dempsey’s in Cardiff as part of an international quartet led by British born bassist and composer Phil Donkin who was touring in support of his début solo album “The Gate” (Whirlwind Recordings).

Zaleski plays on that record alongside fellow American Ben Wendel (tenor sax) and the German born drummer Jochen Rueckert. The line up at Cardiff featured Donkin, Zaleski, Wendel and British drummer James Maddren and the performance is reviewed elsewhere on this site along with a look at the recording itself.

I was very impressed with Zaleski’s contribution to both the “Gate” album and the Cardiff show. He is an inventive and imaginative pianist, a fluent soloist who plays in a refreshingly unclichéd manner. I spoke to him during the interval and also found him to be a genuinely nice guy -as most jazz musicians are - and he was later kind enough to mail me a review copy of this, his début album as a leader, direct from New York. Thanks, Glenn.

A glance at Zaleski’s website http://www.glennzaleski.com shows him to be a musician with a busy schedule who plays regularly with some of the leading figures on the New York jazz scene including guitarists Gilad Hekselman, Lage Lund and Jonathan Kreisberg, bassists Ben Street and Michael Olatuja, drummers Ari Hoenig, Johnathan Blake and Colin Stranahan and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane.

On disc Zaleski has been part of a co-operative trio featuring Stranahan and bassist Rick Rosato that has released two albums to date (“Anticipation”, 2011 and “Limitless” , 2013) and has also worked with his saxophonist brother Mark (“Duet Suite”, 2010 ). He also has an extensive and varied back catalogue of recordings as a sideman which can be viewed in full on his website.

“My Ideal” is essentially a collection of Zaleski’s favourite standards and teams him with bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Craig Weinrib, both regular collaborators. Ravi Coltrane guests on tenor sax on the closing track “I’m Old Fashioned”. Alongside the better known tunes the trio also interpret two contemporary compositions by bassist Rick Rosato and vibraphonist Peter Schlamb.

Zaleski has publicly acknowledged the influence of the Bill Evans Trio on his music and this is something that is implicit throughout “My Ideal” as evidenced by Zaleski’s lightness of touch at the keyboard and the integral, but always tasteful involvement of bass and drums.

The trio set their stall out with a gently swinging interpretation of Jerome Kern’s “Nobody Else But Me” with Zaleski darting nimbly around the keyboard supported by Douglas’ immaculate bass grooves and the quiet bustle of Weinrib’s finely detailed but unobtrusive brush work.

“Waltz For MD”, presumably a tribute to Miles Davis, was written by bassist Rick Rosato, Zaleski’s colleague from the trio with Colin Stranahan. It’s a genuine waltz (another example perhaps of the Bill Evans influence) with an engaging melody that sounds as if it could have been around for years. Zaleski explores and develops the melody in fascinating fashion and there’s also something of a feature for the excellent Douglas.

Jule Styne’s “Make Someone Happy” is a tune that is closely associated with Bill Evans. The sense of calm spaciousness that Zaleski finds in this extended interpretation owes much to the spirit of the master as Douglas and Weinrib fill the LaFaro and Motian roles to perfection.

Charlie Parker’s “Cheryl” represents a different kind of challenge but it’s one that the trio tackle with relish and aplomb as they wrap their collective fingers around Parker’s notoriously tricky compositional lines. The arrangement includes a bravado passage of unaccompanied piano from the highly talented Zaleski followed by an equally coruscating piano solo propelled by Douglas’ rapid bass lines. Weinrib enjoys a sparky drum feature and supplies briskly brushed support elsewhere.

A luminous arrangement of Johnny Green’s classic “Body and Soul” then offers further evidence of Zaleski’s way with a ballad but also brings a contemporary sensibility to one of the most frequently recorded items in the jazz canon. There’s also a gorgeously melodic solo from Douglas, a player who impresses throughout the album.

“REL” was written by one of Zaleski’s young New York based contemporaries, the vibraphonist Peter Schlamb. Its modern feel and contemporary rhythms represent a welcome variation from the predominately “Songbook” material. Zaleski and his colleagues serve their friend’s composition well with Weinrib enjoying another brief moment in the spotlight.

“Arietis” is a little known Freddie Hubbard tune that is given a lively, boppish reading by the trio with Zaleski in sparkling form at the piano and interacting well with the busy rhythm section of Douglas and Weinrib. Bassist Douglas again features strongly with yet another fluent and imaginative solo.

A thoughtful and evocative passage of solo piano introduces Richard A.Whiting’s title track . The playing throughout this piece is delightfully lyrical and includes a melodic solo from Douglas alongside the leader’s limpidly flowing piano and Weinrib’s admirably understated brush work.

Jerome Kern tunes bookend the album as Ravi Coltrane finally comes to the table with his own arrangement of “I’m Old Fashioned”. Coltrane’s tenor almost inevitably sounds a little like that of his father as he brings something of a “spiritual jazz” feel to the opening section of the piece. There’s a later injection of pace that leads to a feverishly inventive Zaleski solo that develops into a thrilling dialogue with Weinrib’s drums. There is an authority to Coltrane’s own solo that is clearly steeped in the family lineage. 

“My Ideal” was immaculately recorded in New York by an engineering team of Michael Brorby and Dave Darlington with Zaleski himself producing. The final mix captures all the nuances of the trio’s playing and the three musicians sound good both individually and collectively.

Overall the album is a good representation of Zaleski’s talents and it is clear that he is a young musician with an enormous technical facility and a high degree of potential. It’s an excellent recording in its own right but it is a rather conservative one with arguably an over reliance on the standard repertoire.  It is a success on its own terms but good as it is I’d have liked to have heard some of Zaleski’s own compositions and would have appreciated more of a contemporary feel overall.

Perhaps this will represent the next step for Zaleski, although to be fair this may already be what he is doing with Rosato and Stranahan. I’ve not heard either of those albums and thus can’t really comment. 

In any event I really like his playing and Glenn Zaleski is clearly a young musician to keep an eye on in the years ahead.

   

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