Venturing
Forth is an album title that is fraught
with irony, since Steve Crews has been playing professionally in the
Louisville, Kentucky area for well over two decades. The album does
signal something of a career change though - in the summer of 2000
Steve left the halls of acedemia after a 22 year teaching career at
Bellarmine College and the University of Louisville (his alma mater)
to concentrate on performing full time. On the surface this career
move was courageous (or foolhardy, depending on your point of view),
considering the unemployment rate among musicians. But a closer look
at Steve's career shows how thoroughly he prepared himself at night
while he taught others by day. With a puckish sense of humor and a
genuine love for his audiences to match his musical ability, he has
built a following in Louisville over the years. In 1982 he formed
Soundchaser, a quartet that worked a succession of long-term club
and restaurant engagements for most of the eighties. A couple of solo
piano country club gigs have lasted almost a decade. He has occasionally
appeared at jazz festivals as far afield as Russia and Ireland. And
when the Louisville Orchestra, the Ballet, and other local arts groups
need a pianist with jazz experience who can sightread well, Steve
often gets the call.
The present
trio is a direct decendant of Soundchaser. Drummer Hubert Griffin
Jr. was in the original group, and his ability to come up with the
right thing at the right time is crucial to the trio's success. Sonny
Stephens who was with Soundchaser briefly in the mid-'80's, has worked
countless gigs with Steve in various combinations. His melodic approach
to the roll of the Bass in the group can be heard through the album.
Primarily an acoustic player, his abilities on the electric instrument
can be heard on Kitten on the Prowl.
The trio played the program on concerts at three area colleges before
recording. "Everything was road-tested before we went into the
studio," Steve said.
Steve
makes no bones about his stylistic debt to bebop piano pioneer Bud
Powell, so Bud Powell, Chick Corea's
tribute to the master is a fitting opener for the album. The improvised
intro recalls some of Powell's unaccompanied work, but the trio's
treatment of the tune's middle section calls attention to the Spanish
side of Corea's personality. Un Poco Loco
is an early example of a one chord vehicle for improvisation, and
Glass Enclosure is a set piece
with improvisation limited to several cadenzas. Interestingly although
Powell made a famous recording of Over the
Rainbow, Steve takes his own tack in the unaccompanied
performance here. As I listened to this track, I felt like a mouse
in the corner hearing a pianist playing for his own pleasure.
Other
pianists composed several more songs in this collection. Burgundy
is a little-known gem from bebop great Barry Harris. The Peacocks,
written by the late Jimmy Rowles, is on its way to becoming a jazz
standard. And Caravan was co-written
by "the Piano Player" as Duke Ellington referred to himself.
Incidentally, in the latter tune the desert sands take on a Creole
flavor thanks to Griffin's New Orleans street beat.
Four
originals are featured, each showing a different facet of Steve's
compositional talent. The most somber is Pavane
(for Jimmy), written in memory of guitar legend Jimmy Raney.
Guardian Angel is a waltz penned
for a faculty concert at a Jamey Aebersold jazz camp at Elmhurst,
Illonois. The title was inspired by a quote from the poet G.K. Chesterton:
"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly." The
Shannon Shuffle derives its title
from Steve's wife's family name. And a look at the album cover photo
is all the explanation Kitten on the Prowl
needs.
No piano
trio album would be complete without a show tune, and the one on this
CD is Pure Imagination from "Willie
Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" written by Leslie Bricusse
and Anthony Newley, a leading British songwriting team. Notice how
the trio highlights the childlike innocence of the tune by keeping
the harmony simple. There aren't too many jazz performances that end
with a simple major chord, but it fits here.
Venturing
Forth, then, isn't a first shot by a young musician just
getting started. Steve, this is the first CD of the rest of your life!
Phill
Bailey 10/5/00
WFPK Afternoon Jazz Host.
