LESLIE PINTCHIK

PRAYER FOR WHAT REMAINS

Pintchard Records

Leslie Pintchik, piano; Scott Hardy, bass/acoustic guitar; Michael Sarin, drums; Satoshi Takeishi, percussion; Steve Wilson, soprano saxophone.

With such a striking title, I am eager to put this album on my CD player.  Pianist, Leslie Pintchik opens with the title tune, her original composition, “Prayer For What Remains.” It was inspired by a war photo taken by Joseph Eid.  In the photograph, a man sits smoking a pipe in Aleppo, Syria¸ inside a bombed-out bedroom, listening to music on a manual gramophone that operates without electricity. The piece is quiet and feels sad, or perhaps pensive, as it unfolds.

Pintchik has composed eight original tunes for this project and adds a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Banquet” as well as, one of the Lennon/McCartney tunes, “I Will.”  On “I Will” the trio starts out slowly, like the beginning pages of a long novel, stroking the melody slowly to the surface.  After playing the tune down once and giving the bassist an opportunity to shine, then they double time the piece and it swings. I love the counter melodies Hardy plays beneath Pintchik’s piano solo.

I also enjoyed her energetic tune “Request Denied!” It was threaded with the blues. Michael Sarin, on drums, stitches the funk into the tune like a tailor’s needle. Scott Hardy takes a spirited upright bass solo. “Over Easy” also swings, but with tricky, changing tempos. Steve Wilson joins the trio on soprano saxophone, skipping over the chord changes in a playful way, then trading fours with Michael Sarin on drums. I enjoyed the percussion touches of Satoshi Takeishi on a tune called “Open Secret.”

The cover of this album is full of color and joy.  It represents these five musicians who have gotten together to share a musical experience as well as friendship.  Called “Circle of Friends,” Leslie thought it was an appropriate cover for her project. It was painted by a friend, artist Alvin Clayton, whose restaurant and jazz club often hired her as entertainment over the past decade.

She closes this album with a popular original piece she has composed called “Just Sayin’.”  It was recorded “Live,” and captured the appreciative applause at the end of this song.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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