Geoffrey Keezer: Turn Up The Quiet

Congratulations are due, not only to Geoff Keezer, who continues to grow and to nurture his talent, but to producers Tony McAnany and Joel Moss, who eschewed packaging the artist in favor of encouraging him. The result may be hard to categorize, but it hangs together around pianist Keezer’s collage-like technique and the East-West cultural fusion that gives each piece a delicate savor. This bouquet is clearest on the three solo pieces here, including an interesting take on Strayhorn’s “Lush Life.” Keezer’s collaborators include Christian McBride, Joshua Redman, and Diana Krall. Percussion’s appears briefly on the exotic “Island Palace,” a Keezer composition that plays beautifully to Krall’s darker timbres, and again on the closing “Bibo No Aozora,” with an ensemble that includes a cello quartet and multiple keyboards. That’s not to say there is no groove herein: McBride’s engine gets well wound up on the likes of “Madame Grenouille,” a suitably jumpy minor blues. Redman’s tenor work is well above par, and his soprano outing on “Rose” is breathtaking-inspired, say Keezer’s notes, by the recent Hancock/Shorter duets.

Originally Published October 1, 1998