JOHN TAYLOR “Close to Mars”

ARTIST

John Taylor

ALBUM TITLE

“Close to Mars”

LABEL

CamJazz

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This previously unreleased 2006 recording, likely from the same sessions as Giulia’s Thursdays, offers another chapter in John Taylor’s luminous if uneven discography. The trio—Danielsson and France, Taylor’s partners on numerous CamJazz recordings—provides sensitive support throughout.

The nine pieces include eight Taylor originals and a previously unreleased Kenny Wheeler composition. When the themes are strong—Obstinate, Summer (Phases), Spring (Phases)—Taylor shines, conjuring his signature balance of lyricism, abstraction, and restraint. Elsewhere, his playing can drift toward the ornamental, a reflection perhaps of his tendency to favor mood over structure.

Taylor’s CamJazz recordings, while intimate and often exquisite, never quite match the sustained brilliance of his work under Peter Erskine’s leadership for ECM. Nevertheless, Close to Mars is a valuable document of one of Europe’s most refined pianists, at once elusive and compelling.

—Paolo Vitolo

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