Solo: Miniatures & Tales by Shai Maestro

Review: Shai Maestro - Solo: Miniatures & Tales

Shai Maestro was discovered in the mid-2000s alongside bassist Avishai Cohen (from 2008’s Gently Disturbed, to Seven Seas in 2010). Since 2012 and the release of his first album as the leader of his own group, simply entitled Shai Maestro Trio, his career has mainly involved exploring the mysteries of this infamous love triangle that so many other contemporary jazz pianists wind themselves up in. Although his previous release, Human, had already started to break free from this mold with the addition of American trumpet player Philip Dizack, this new album pushes things even further toward total freedom. This time around, he has adopted an entirely different approach, that is, the most pared-down and potentially perilous exercise of all: going solo. 

On 2018’s The Dream Thief, his first album for the ECM label, Shai Maestro had already demonstrated his skill and originality as a solo performer, stepping away from his trio for four pieces. Yet by deciding to record an entire album in this exposing, minimalist configuration – which he himself defines as “the ultimate exercise in freedom” –, Shai Maestro has reached an important milestone in his career. The album is divided in two major parts: one features spontaneous miniatures that express a particular mood (short, glimmering pieces that often bring to mind the Corea of Piano Improvisations), whereas the other is much more elaborate and structured, the compositions developing from a far more narrative point of view (in a lyrical, elegiac register that likens him more to Jarrett), thus allowing the pianist to give a captivating overview of both his influences as well as his tremendous musical and artistic range. Through two masterfully reinterpreted standards (“All the Things You Are” and “For All We Know”) founded on lighthearted rhythm and dexterous virtuosity (“Aba”), as well as more intimate, melancholic pieces (“Gloria,” “Monkey Mind,” “From One Soul to Another”), Shai Maestro reaffirms his preeminent position amongst contemporary jazz musicians. © Stéphane Ollivier/Qobuz