Label: Self Released, 2020
Personnel - Bartosz Hadala: piano, Fender Rhodes; Luis Deniz: alto saxophone; Eric St-Laurent: guitar; Brad Cheeseman: electric bass; Marito Marques: drums, percussion + Kelly Jefferson: soprano saxophone; Michael Manring: bass guitar; João Frade: accordion.
Polish-Canadian pianist Bartosz Hadala moved from New York City to Toronto in 2010. His most prominent recording happened that year, when he put together The Runner Up with an ensemble featuring trumpeter Randy Brecker and drummer Antonio Sanchez. With his latest work, Three Short Stories, he sets another bold move and points to a different direction as his electric group navigates a beguiling mix of styles and tackles 12 original compositions that pay tribute to his hero, the pianist Chick Corea.
“Prologue - Slow To Anger” opens the recording with a mix of quirky chords, arpeggiated ideas and harmonics brought to light by virtuosic electric bassist Michael Manring. This exquisite overture almost serves as an intro to “True North X”, an inceptive funk-Latin stew that steeps further into jazz fusion when adding classic rock suggestions to the mix. Explicit in his improvisation, Hadala gives rise to both counterpoint and unisons in the company of guitarist Eric St-Laurent. By the end, the latter also gets to interact with altoist Luis Deniz.
“Once Upon a Time” and its associated “Epilogue” are harmonically designed with Fender Rhodes, but while the former adds bluesy and funky tones to its post-bop essence and turns the spotlight to soprano saxophonist Kelly Jefferson, the latter is romanticized with João Frade’s accordion on one hand, and stimulated by the reggae-ish pulsation in the guitar accompaniment, on the other. Everything works over a smooth jazz-funk substratum.
“Itsy Bitsy Spider Blues” somehow reminded me of the witty musicality shared by Carla Bley and Steve Swallow. In turn, the title track falls into a crossover jazz that passes through danceable, breezy, and Eastern-tinged territories. It ends as it started, in a style evocative of David Sanborn.
“Monk’s Unfinished Symphony” echoes a few recognizable tics of the iconic pianist referred in the title, but it is “EST”, with its well-coordinated rhythmic and genre-defying interpolations, that resonates higher. With less collisions and incidents, “Longing” and “Slow to Anger” rely on calmer, sweet-lead melodies that didn’t make them look more attractive as other pieces on the album.
Hadala is a courageous pianist, whose music includes plenty of color. I see this kaleidoscopic musical universe as a natural reflection of his open-mindedness.
Grade B
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Prologue - Slow to Anger ► 02 - True North X ► 07 - EST