Four stars in performance and four for recording by Thomas Conrad on Audiophile for this pianist of exceptional promise.

Thompson moves, perfectly at ease, in a distinctly hard-bopping piano line with innate sense of the blues pervading every touch of the keyboard. The pianist, who honed his studies with Kenny Barron and has Wynton Marsalis as a great mentor, explains firsthand in the extensive liner notes, “The disc features composers whose music evokes church, rhythm and blues, swing, the spirit of jazz and the feeling of the black American experience.” And so it is that seven brilliant new versions of celebrated tunes by Billy Strayhorn (“Take the A Train,” “Chelsea Bridge”) and Horace Silver (“Señor Blues”), forgotten gems by Randy Weston (“Hi-Fly”), T. Monk (“Raise Four”), Ellis Marsalis (“Twelve's It”), with closing entrusted to an ongoing source of inspiration, Maestro Cedar Walton, from whose songbook one of the best-known themes “Ojos de Rojo” is offered. A number of guests (Christian McBride, Joe Farnsworth and Kenny Washington) greet this “new fresh voice on the piano,” embellishing the work with flashes of class in three tracks, but it is above all the stable trio, with Philip Norris on bass and Tj Reddick on drums, that is fully convincing, showing cohesion, maturity and a solid swing that envelops a timeless album with a fresh and enjoyable approach, in which no lapse of tension is felt. Thompson's third work as a leader leaves us convinced that his name is one to mark with a highlighter, and that it is safe to expect great things from him in the future.

Track Listing

• Take The ‘A’ Train
• Señor Blues
• Hi-Fly
• Chelsea Bridge
• Raise Four
• Twelve’s It
• Mikula Blues
• Ojos De Rojo

Additional Details

Label: Red Records

Genre: Jazz

Run Time: 40 mins

Release Date: 11/02/21

UPC: 8054154650101