Mark Soskin is a perfect example of a jazzman who has impressive sideman credentials but hasn't done nearly enough recording as a leader. Though the pianist/keyboardist has been keeping busy as a sideman since the 1970s, he had recorded less than five albums of his own when the 21st century arrived -- and this is a guy who is talented enough to have played with
Sonny Rollins and
Billy Cobham extensively. So when the Swiss TCB label released 17 (Seventeen) during the summer of 2001,
Soskin's admirers couldn't help but be thrilled to see him coming out with something new. Though
Soskin is quite capable of playing fusion or jazz-funk on the electric keyboards, 17 is very much a straight-ahead post-bop date in the
Cedar Walton/
Kenny Barron vein.
Soskin sticks to the acoustic piano, and he leads a cohesive acoustic combo that includes
Tim Hagans on trumpet and flügelhorn, Billy Drewes on tenor and soprano sax, Jay Anderson on bass, Matt Wilson on drums, and
Daniel Sadownick on percussion. The pianist swings aggressively on
Bud Powell's Cuban-flavored "Un Poco Loco" but, overall,
Soskin and his colleagues tend to be very pensive and reflective -- that is true on pianist Bill Evans' "Time Remembered" as well as
Soskin originals like "Elysian Fields," "Pals," and "Manfredo's Fest" (which is named after pianist
Manfredo Fest). An album this pensive calls for lyrical soloists, and 17 has exactly that in
Soskin, Hagans, and Drewes. That isn't to say that the CD doesn't swing -- 17 is consistently swinging, but it rarely swings in an in-your-face sort of way. This pleasing album makes one wish that
Soskin's catalog were much larger. ~ Alex Henderson