Pianist
Frank Kimbrough delivers more of his deeply introspective, harmonically complex jazz on
Play. Working with a trio,
Kimbrough is supported here by the adept bassist
Masa Kamaguchi and drummer
Paul Motian. A phenomenal pianist,
Kimbrough's mix of
Thelonious Monk's cubist bumptiousness and
Bill Evans' impressionistic colorations is thoroughly modern and prefigures the work some of his younger, more ballyhooed contemporaries, like
Brad Mehldau and
Jacky Terrasson. Moving from tumbling ballads to playful waltzes and enigmatic modal pieces,
Kimbrough has crafted a challenging, atmospheric, and subtle album that makes the most of his sensitive group's interplay.