A cynic might discern that the recent rush of solo jazz piano releases is more cost-cutting than musical, since only one artist needs to get paid while the CD costs the same afterward as one recorded by a full band.
Some of the top jazz pianists from around the world, from Frenchman Jean-Michel Pilc to Japanese sensation Hiromi to American Lynne Arriale, have capitalized on the craze in recent years. Of those three, Arriale arguably succeeded the most through her orchestral approach, conversational playing style, and the spontaneity of recording much of her 2012 CD Solo (Motema) live in concert and having the crowd noise mixed out afterward.
Yet the 55-year-old Wisconsin native is known for succeeding through unconventional means. She earned her master’s degree from the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in 1991 in classical piano, yet decided to switch to jazz thereafter despite having only a casual knowledge of the genre and little improvisational experience.
On Saturday night at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach, Arriale displayed her classical training, jazz acumen and open-mindedness by playing material from Solo, plus additional gems by everyone from Thelonious Monk and Benny Golson to the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
An intriguing half-hour discussion on improvisation preceded Arriale’s first set, as the pianist deconstructed the 1920s standard Bye Bye Blackbird. She encouraged the capacity crowd to sing the opening verses while she improvised solos to accompany the vocal melody, demonstrating how jazz can offer the freedom to play such pieces in styles ranging from impressionistic and bluesy to somber and Brazilian.
After a 15-minute break, Arriale returned to open the concert with an odd choice, the pop hit Wrapped Around Your Finger, by The Police. The pianist obviously felt comfortable enough with the audience (much of it age 60 and older) to open with something not associated with the American Songbook, and her abstract intro and classical nuances kept the ethereal nature of the Sting composition intact.
Eighty-three-year-old saxophonist Benny Golson’s Whisper Not followed, creating an early highlight. Arriale is masterful with dynamics, and built the standard beautifully with her left-hand chording and right-hand flourishes. Kurt Weill’s Speak Low also ebbed and flowed, as Arriale turned the German composer’s classic into a buoyant samba that quieted dramatically at its coda. And Hoagy Carmichael’s ballad The Nearness of You completed the crowd-pleasing trilogy of standards with a slow, classically-themed intro and more of Arriale’s whisper-to-a-scream touch.
“That was ‘The Nearness of You,’ which I can tell you all already knew,” Arriale said. “You’ll also know these next three songs, and I know them as well, so I’ll play them for you now.”
Clearly comfortable with the audience, the pianist stifled laughter at what she’d just said, and then played three more outside-the-box numbers with a standard sandwiched within. Arriale’s version of The Beatles’ Blackbird was faithful to the original at first before she turned the tune into bluesy, bouncing, improvised variation that echoed Vince Guaraldi’s work through her strong left-hand voicings.
After a dramatic stop, and an off-the-microphone announcement that she’d gotten lost, Arriale wowed with fiery flourishes on Cole Porter’s What Is This Thing Called Love? She then completed her British Invasion medley with a brief stroll through the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black and The Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun, embellishing the beautiful George Harrison melody with classical nuances.
“Are there any Thelonious Monk fans out there?” Arriale asked. She then launched into a spiked version of Evidence that featured equal parts notes and silence in-between, plus the ominous, insistent chords that helped establish Monk as one of the most original jazz composers ever.
Nearly an hour into the set, Arriale played her first original, and her ballad Arise didn’t disappoint. The title track to her 2003 CD (also on Solo) was written shortly after the 9/11 attacks, and it featured the pianist dramatically hunched over the piano to play its gorgeous, anthemic melody. South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim’s folk-tinged Mountain of the Night then whispered the serpentining, hourlong set to a close.
Arriale took a half-hour break, losing a small portion of the crowd, but it was because much of it wanted to meet her and buy CDs in the lobby. Set two featured more Arriale original material in her Celtic lullaby Dance; the ballad The Dove, featured on Solo, and the set-closing Frevo from Arise. Latin-tinged, energetic and experimental, the piece perhaps best displayed the strong influence of Keith Jarrett on Arriale.
Yet two covers, and an illustrative story, also highlighted the closing set. Burt Bacharach’s ballad A House Is Not a Home showcased the important lesson that Arriale learned from Rebecca Penneys ― singing the melodies to the songs she practiced ― at the Wisconsin Conservatory. The pianist’s lovely rendition, not to mention the actual singing voice she displayed during the pre-concert improvisation discussion, proved her melodic gifts.
“I know someone who once took a piano lesson with Thelonious Monk,” Arriale said. “And they told me that he looked at his watch halfway through, said ‘It’s time for Bugs,’ and went into the other room to watch Bugs Bunny cartoons. The lesson was over.”
Monk’s I Mean You then displayed the effects that such viewing may have had on the enigmatic pianist. Arriale’s reading featured not only his left-hand rhythms, but additional cartoon-like stops, starts and dramatic dynamics.
“I’m going to do something I’ve never done before,” Arriale said as she emerged after the 45-minute set for an encore. She took requests, which ranged from possible (Misty, The Man I Love) to comical (rock bands Deep Purple and Metallica). She settled on a slow, somber reading of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, closing what had turned into a two-hour performance.
Since she’s now associate professor of jazz studies and director of small ensembles at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Arriale is in position to pay forward the fruits of her sudden switch from classical to jazz 21 years ago. Likening it to learning a foreign language, she was immediately thrown into the fire through inclusion on a 1991 tour of Japan with the 100 Golden Fingers ensemble ― during which she learned the importance of touch from pianistic elder statesmen like Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan and Kenny Barron.
Winning the 1993 International Great American Jazz Piano Competition justified the multi-lingual Arriale’s switch. And on this night, she further channeled her classical technique and well-learned improvisational skills into a career that continues to arise.