An Intimate Evening With Pianist Romain Collin...

Jazz Pianist Romain Collin

On Sunday June 3, 2012, pianist Romain Collin appeared at The Piano Bar in Oakland, California for a solo performance. Collin's new CD "The Calling" was being received in the world of jazz with solid enthusiasm and high praise. This special appearance gave the small, but appreciative crowd an intimate look into the extraordinary, creative mind, and swelling talent of this young ascending jazz pianist, who, on this occasion, had at his disposal a magnificent Grand Fazoli Piano.

The Fazoli Grand Piano is considered the luxury piano of choice for serious artists. Though designed for large spaces, and formidably compatible with large-capacity concert halls, on this occasion, Collin was able, in the intimacy of The Piano Bar, to capture its best qualities and awesome "sound" in a way that augmented his selection of  material and produced a memorable event.

Rollin admitted at the beginning of the program that he deliberately did not pre-plan a playlist because he desired the experience to flow from a  supreme, naked sense of spontaneity. It turned out to be a refreshing and effective approach to adopt in the presence of a small appreciative room with a fantastic Fazoli Grand Piano at his fingertips. This interesting bit of information had the effect of creating a feeling of suspense and expectation in the audience. The first selection unfolded freely, as he put it, "one sound at a time," it felt distinctly classical, achingly arresting, as Collin searched out each note with the demeanor of a jeweler with a keen eye for the most brilliant diamond in a mound of gemstones. The room was attentive, relaxed, and quiet. Collin paused slightly, as though awaiting a thought, and with the slightest movement began to play the title track of his new album: The Calling. He explained later that he particularly enjoyed playing this piece solo, as opposed to a trio setting because it creates more space, and greater dynamics, allowing the left hand arpeggios running beneath the melody to provide almost perfect rhythmic and harmonic support.

The second selection was again free and developed into an uncluttered, thought-composed, almost melodic  piece that flowed cleanly out through Collin's precise technique. Like a creeping dawn, Collin's inner vision and his comfort with the Fazoli grand began to take shape in his composition, "Great Ocean Road," written for sculptor, painter, jeweler Sydney Cash's light sculpture exhibition, and jazzy art project at The Falcon in New York City.

Never one to overlook good old fashioned inspiration, and always prepared to seize the opportunity, as he did on a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco, iPod in hand, Collin turned to the tradition of the great singer songwriters Bob Dylan and Neil Young for another one of his compositions, with a country-like captivating flavor, intensely reprising its main theme to achieve a natural end which was accented by the crystal-like resonance of the piano's perfect 'highs' and 'lows.'

And then came the highlight of the evening's performance. The centerpiece. One of Collin's favorite standards: George and Ira Gerschwin's 1926 classic "Someone To Watch Over Me.". It weaved its way out of the depths of his heart and cascaded over the now captured room like a soothing, refreshing spring wind. Alluring. Melodic. Recognizable. Simple in musical architecture; but exquisite in its gossamer-like intimacy and emotional equity. It intoxicated the room with nostalgia while Collin's searching fingers suspended the audience in thought, and then set them down again with feather-like grace and silent relish.

Romain Collin closed the evening's performance with another original composition "One Last Try," which is also featured as the closing piece on his new CD: The Calling. He played it with a profound sense of joy and satisfaction, which I'm sure was equally felt by his audience. As a pianist, Collin is well schooled in the canons of Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal and Errol Garner. As a composer he work is limpid, sophisticated and visionary. All together he remains utterly accessible.

Observing Collin's reactions to his own playing, one gets the impression of a well trained, consummate professional with an unrestricted awareness  of the ever rising tide of musical ideas swirling deep inside him; emerging with purity and sensitivity in the form of a compelling, gripping exhibition of pianism that is communicated to his audience with clarity and purpose.

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CD REVIEW: THE CALLING

PIANIST - ROMAIN COLLIN

Style: Jazz

Label: Palmetto Records

Musicians: Romain Collin - piano, programming; Luques Curtis - double bass; Kendrick Scott - drums; John Shannon - guitar (tracks 1, 5, 7); Adrian Daurov - cello (tracks 5, 7)

CD Review: Romain Collin's new CD: The Calling, uncovers an extraordinarily talented jazz pianist; a rising star with a vision that boldly probes beyond contemporary musical horizons. This native of France was born in Cannes and raised in the town of Antibes. He recalls that he "soaked up" jazz at home listening to his mother's Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald albums. He attended Boston's Berklee College of Music where he studied performance under Dave Liebman and Joe Lovano, majoring in Music Synthesis, in the process learning about sound design and synthesizer programming. He was selected by pianist Herbie Hancock, trumpeter Terence Blanchard and saxophonist Wayne Shorter to work in the Monk Program in Los Angeles for two years. After its completion, he moved to New York and recorded a much acclaimed debut album The Rise and Fall of Pipokuhn, featuring bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Zach Harmon.      

Drummer Kendrick Scott

On "The Calling" he is accompanied by bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Kendrick Scott. Scott is also a graduate of Berklee College of Music where he majored in Music Education. Since graduating in 2002, he has worked with the Jazz Crusaders, guitarist Pat Metheny, saxophonists Joe Lovano and Kenny Garrett, trumpeter Terence Blanchard and vocalist Dianne Reeves.

Luques Curtis also studied at, and graduated from, the Berklee College of Music, studying with John Lockwood and Ron Mahdi. Now living in New York, Curtis has performed widely with a number on nationally and internationally renowned artists, including pianist/bandleader Eddie Palmieri, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist John Scofield, arranger/composer/bandleader Maria Schneider and saxophonist Wayne Shorter among others. He is a widely sought after artist, appearing on Brian Lynch's Grammy Award winning CD "Simpatico"; Gary Burton's "Next Generation"; Dave Valentin's "Come Fly With Me"; Sean Jones "Roots"; "Kaleidoscope"; Christian Scott's "Rewind That"; Etienne Charles' "Folklore" and others.

Bassist Luques Curtis

The CD opens with the first of Collin's compositions (Storm) - there are 10 others. It is arresting, rapturous music that builds like a musical tornado, with its locus set deep in the aural canyons forming the terrain under which Collin's composing power is centered, now being unleashed with his piano a full-blown fury of sound that echoes residue of all the sounds of music that he has ever heard, from 'Ellington to Weather Report.' It seems also to indicate that here is a young composer that understands, and is comfortable with, the power in his music: it is a wake up call!

Then as transformation burgeons from chaos and destruction, a beautiful, almost pristine 'calm' emerges out of Collin's measured piano on the CD's title track (The Calling), as if informing the senses that death's calling is always to herald life. Building on this theme, Collin's music begins to reflect inner experiences that seem to speak to the listener in a series of spiritual tone poems; first in the energetic, engaging (Runner's High), with its accompanying stages of enervation and revitalization, and like images captured in the mirror of life, we hear our own footsteps in Collin's poignant rendition of John  Mayer's seductive, captivating, evenly flowing sound scape (Stop This Train). 

There is a natural feeling of remorse and palpable sadness heard in (Burn Down) as Collin's piano straddles atop a languorously haunting mood built by Audrian Daurov's cello and Luques Curtis' double bass; as is the realization that there is always a joker in every life's pack (Pennywise The Clown), Kendrick Scott's 'in the pocket' drums shadow the joker's every sinister move, as Collin's piano attempts to pin him down with dextrous, searching right hand repeating patterns, and a smouldering left hand filled with beautifully dark colors.

Collin and the trio eventually drill down carefully through the wondrously harmonic terrain of (Greyshot), probing further to encounter flowing sequences of melodic bits in (Strange); finally emerging in an area carved into his psyche where the classic jazz memories from his mother's albums have taken root, and dusted off one of Horace Silver's best offerings (Nica's Dream), a tune composed for the "Jazz Baroness" Pannonica de Koenigswarter, an ambassador of jazz who established great jazz friendships with "Bird" and "Monk." Collin's approach highlights some of the influence of pianist Ahmad Jamal in his creation of exceptional space for the exotic imaginations of bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Kendrick Scott to take full flight. In addition Collin's chord selection and graceful technique almost lovingly recreate Silver's inspired, relentless groove with sensitive touches and interludes that preserve the beautiful mood of this classic jazz gem.

The final two selections on "The Calling" find Collin probing deeply into his composer's DNA, showcasing his programming talent and skills to explore a smattering of dark matter (Aftermath), and then immersing his total imagination into a limpid pool of quiet resolution, vulnerability and stilled joy (One Last Try). His opening of the piece has a fleeting reminiscence of Vince Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" and throughout he maintains an aura of elusive, lilting, deep contentment.

Romain Collin is a young pianist and composer with a vision that reaches deeply within himself, boldly probes far beyond music's natural horizons, and expresses what he finds, feels and sees with an amazingly clear purpose and conviction.

Track Listing: Storm; The Calling; Runner's High; Stop This Train; Burn Down; Pennywise The Clown; Greyshot; Strange; Nica's Dream; Airborne; Aftermath; One Last Try.

Recorded by Meredith McCandless at Flux Studio.
Additional recording by Jeremy Loucus.

Mixed by Nicolas Farmakalidis.

Mastered by Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound.