This Young Musician’s Sense of Playfulness Stands Out Among His Many Strengths

‘Isaiah J. Thompson Plays The Music of Buddy Montgomery’ (WJ3 Records)‘Composed in Colors’ (Red Records)Live at Dizzy’s, streaming at JALC.orgIn 2020, the pianist Isaiah Thompson, then 24, made his first album as a band leader, playing the music of Buddy Montgomery. A few weeks ago, he made his debut as a working member of the John Pizzarelli Trio. In between, he released his second album, “Composed in Colors.”That first CD was all about soulfulness. Buddy Montgomery (1930-2009), the writer of all 10 tunes, was a brilliant vibraphonist, pianist, composer, and bandleader who enjoyed the mixed blessing of being the younger brother and frequent collaborator of an all-time jazz icon, the great guitarist Wes Montgomery. Mr. Thompson shows how, in Buddy Montgomery’s playing and writing for the Mastersounds, the Montgomery Brothers, and under his own billing, he was a pioneer of the genre eventually known as Soul Jazz, which skillfully incorporated the legacies of rhythm-and-blues and gospel music.The music he hopefully continues to create with Mr. Pizzarelli is all about swing, and, in the classic Pizzarelli tradition, abundant humor. Mr. Pizzarelli has employed roughly half a dozen of the best keyboardists of our time, but this is the first time one is as much a collaborator as a sideman. Mr. Thompson gave this long-standing, high-flying threesome, which co-stars the virtuoso bassist, Dr. Michael Karn, an entirely different feel.Mr. Thompson’s new album, “Composed in Colors,” which co-stars bassist Christian McBride and two drummers alternating, Kenny Washington and Joe Farnsworth, is about something else entirely. At first glance, it seems to be a celebration of the most famous works of the most celebrated pianist-composers in all of jazz, starting with Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the ‘A’ Train,” Horace Silver’s “Señor Blues,” and Randy Weston’s “Hi-Fly” — and then back to Strayhorn for “Chelsea Bridge.” The set also includes two less widely played pieces by major jazz composers, Thelonious Monk’s “Raise Four” and Cedar Walton’s “Ojos de Rojos.” With some exceptions, Mr. Thompson does not radically alter these very familiar piano-centric standards. “Señor Blues” still opens with Silver’s distinctive Latin vamp, though he plays the main melody with just the trio rather than a quintet. “Chelsea Bridge,” is generally thought of as a rather complex composition, but Mr. Thompson plays it like a straightforward ballad, more romantic than intimidating. Usually the ballad impulse is a young musician’s last to mature — particularly with the male gender — but Mr. Thompson is already a master. Mr. Thompson has already won several key awards, and placed second in the Thelonious Monk Competition in 2018. He’s currently one of five finalists for the American Pianists Association Cole Porter Fellowship, and, as such, performed at Dizzy’s on Wednesday evening in what was described as “a sneak preview” of the competition, which will take place in Indianapolis next April. Whereas the current album is mostly jazz standards, Mr. Thompson played two originals at Dizzy’s. “Cakewalk Dilemma,” about man’s relationship with his fellow man, was full of crashing dissonances and Monk-like chromaticisms. Conversely, “A Prayer,” about man’s relationship with God, was played more slowly and spiritually, with thoughtful spaces between the notes — so much so that it made me want to shout “Amen” when he was finished.As a young musician, Mr. Thompson’s greatest strength is neither romance nor reverence, but a sense of playfulness — which also makes him a perfect partner for Mr. Pizzarelli. It comes through all across the new album; “Raise Four,” for instance, has Messrs. Thompson and McBride chasing each other around Monk’s famously minimal 12-bar blues. It’s like two kids wrestling on the floor, and you never know who’s going to end up on top.The album opens with its shortest and most exciting track — it’s a railroad track for “Take The ‘A’ Train,” which is listed as “featuring Kenny Washington.” Mr. Thompson stresses with the secondary melody, and only states the main theme near the end. In a nod to John Coltrane, it could be subtitled, “Chasing the A Train.” Mr. Washington, using his snare drum and brushes, and Mr. Thompson dart back and forth, then up and down all over what seems like a very fast-moving locomotive, in a cinematic high-speed action thriller — in fact, Brad Pitt would be missing a good bet if he doesn’t license it as the main title theme of the upcoming “Bullet Train.” They bring it to a close with Mr. Washington’s brushes emulating the sound of a railroad engine slowing down to a halt. “Take the ‘A’ Train,” which Duke Ellington always played at the start of every performance, is a perfect vehicle for a remarkable musician whose journey is just beginning.

This Young Musician’s Sense of Playfulness Stands Out Among His Many Strengths

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