''Craig Taborn Trio'' is the debut album by American jazz pianist Craig Taborn. It was recorded in 1994 and released on the Japanese DIW label.

Background

After completing ''

Jurassic Classics ''Jurassic Classics'' is the second album by the American saxophonist James Carter, recorded and released in 1994 on the Japanese DIW label. It wasn’t released in the United States until 1995. Critical reception ''The New York Times'' wrote: ...

'' with the James Carter Quartet, Taborn appropriated unused studio time to record this album with bandmates bassist Jaribu Shahid and drummer Tani Tabbal: "We three rehearsed for a couple hours before the hit and recorded for two days. I picked tunes that weren't too difficult yet were valid and representative of my stuff". Taborn wrote several of these songs for a straightahead, neo-bop style, and covered under-recorded compositions such as

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

's "Compassion", Horace Silver's "Shirl" and John Coltrane's

Paul Chambers Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers Jr. (April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969) was an American jazz double bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, he has become one of the most widely-known jazz bassists of the hard bop era. ...

featured "Bass Blues".Original Liner Notes by Howard Mandel

Reception

In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Ken Dryden says that the album "showcases the talented pianist in a variety of settings ranging from post-bop and hard bop to free jazz and avant-garde jazz." In a combined review with two James Carter's albums for ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'', Jon Andrews notes that "Taborn has the same omnivorous esthetic as Carter, assimilating contemporary piano styles as diverse as

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American jazz and classical music pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a ...

and

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...

."Andrews, Jon. ''Craig Taborn Trio'' review. ''Down Beat'' April 95: page 38. Print.

Track listing

:''All compositions by Craig Taborn except as indicated'' # "David the Goliath" – 4:01 # "Compassion" (

) – 7:02 # "Scar" (Andrew Dahlke) – 6:07 # "A Man of Action" – 5:27 # "Shirl" ( Horace Silver) – 5:27 # "Over the Water" – 5:45 # "The Temple" – 4:20 # "Bass Blues" ( John Coltrane) – 5:34 # "The Soul of Grace" – 6:31 # "Uproot" – 5:31

Personnel

* Craig Taborn –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

*Jaribu Shahid –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Tani Tabbal –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

{{Authority control 1994 albums Craig Taborn albums DIW Records albums