Aaron Diehl
The Vagabond
Mack Avenue
I’ve loved Aaron Diehl’s work – as leader and accompanist – across his five solo records to date and in his work with Cécile McLorin Salvant – in fact the best bit about seeing McLorin Salvant in concert was Diehl and his trio. They were exquisite.
The Vagabond is his latest and features a great run of brand new Diehl original compositions but stretches way back to include contributions from two of American jazz’s great pianist composers – Roland Hanna (A Story Often Told, Seldom Heard) and The Modern Jazz Quartet’s John Lewis (Milano). It stretches even further back beyond there to Prokofiev (March From Ten Pieces For Piano) and going ‘wider’ to take in Philip Glass’ Piano Etude No. 16 – in a stunning ‘jazz’ take.
Diehl is the real deal – a calm, patient, thoughtful player; he reminds me so often of The Bad Plus’ Ethan Iverson though without the need for ‘quirk’. Where Iverson has a question mark hovering over his eyebrows always (and you’re just waiting for the exclamation mark in his playing) Diehl summons tranquility and is so concerned with the song that his own playing often disappears deep inside it – his opening track Polaris is a great example of this, even as it features some stunning runs across – seemingly – all 88 keys.
Bassist Paul Sikivie and drummer Gregory Hutchinson work together to form a sublime rhythm section. They too are egoless in their pursuit of craft here – their touch is simply astonishing (Magnanimous Disguise) as Diehl leads them through a set of (for the most part) subtle balladry.
This is the calmness your life needs right now. These guys are here for you. Hear them play. The worlds they summon are wondrous.
