Jonny King - Above All

At the height of his career, Sonny Rollins left the scene and practiced on the Brooklyn Bridge. Charles Lloyd retreated to Big Sur to meditate at the zenith of his stardom. And Miles Davis was persona non grata after his heady, fusion seventies days. So sabbaticals are nothing new in jazz: they often provide the musician with a replenished spirit to scale new artistic heights.

Such is the case with the New York-born, Princeton and Harvard-educated pianist/composer/author Jonny King. From the so-called Young Lions era of the eighties to the year 2000, he sat in with Art Blakey, worked with Christian McBride, Joshua Redman and Bobby Watson, recorded some critically acclaimed recordings as leader, and wrote What Jazz Is, one of the best books on the subject. And then, at the turn of the century, he took a respite from recording and touring to practice law!

With the release of Above All, King – who composed all ten tracks - returns to the jazz scene with an all-star trio supporting cast consisting of the legendary drummer Victor Lewis and bassist Ed Howard. “For me, jazz is always best when it is most collaborative, when every note you play and every chord you strike is a response or comment to your fellow musicians,” King writes in the CD liner notes. “When my good friend and long-time music publisher Don Sickler first conceived this trio project, there was no question in my mind who my collaborators should be.”

King’s pianism – an imaginative and healthy blend of Bill Evan’s impressionism, Earl “Fatha” Hines’ horn-like phrases, Bud Powell’s bop fluency and McCoy Tyner’s power – is buoyed by Howard’s sure-footed basslines, and Lewis’s lickety-split drumming; resulting in a terrific triad of swing and improvisation. “I needed Ed and Victor in the trio,” King writes. “The three of us have performed together in various contexts through the years, most memorably at The Jazz Standard and the now defunct Sweet Basil in larger group settings, and there has always been this constant feeling of dialogue between us.” That dialogue is aurally evidenced by King’s ingenious compositions, which highlight his own signature take on the music, while referencing the unmistakable imprint of the jazz immortals.