Pianist Christian Jacob is a wonderful player whose crystalline melodies and expansive harmonies mark him as someone to keep an ear on. Although raised in France, it wasn’t until arriving in the States that things started happening. There were tenures with Maynard Ferguson and Gary Burton. And now under the aegis “Maynard Ferguson Presents,” Jacob makes an impressive leader debut with Ferguson alums John Patittuci and Peter Erskine. A post-bop modernist touched by the souls of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, Jacob spins alluring webs around standards like “Here’s That Rainy Day” and haunting originals such as “Remembrance.”
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