(Post-Bop) Richie Beirach & Gregor Huebner - Live At Birdland New York - 2017, MP3, 320 kbps

When it comes to jazz musicians improving with age, pianist Richie Beirach is a perfect example. With the release of "Live at Birdland New York" in May 2017, the pianist and composer celebrates his 70th birthday, demonstrating that he’s still at the top of his game. His congenial partner of two decades, the Stuttgart-born, New York-based violinist Gregor Huebner reaches half-a-century on the exact same day as Beirach. This double birthday tribute to two talented artists features highlights recorded in August 2012 during their annual live residence at the illustrious Birdland in New York, joined by a powerful lineup of trumpeter Randy Brecker, bassist George Mraz and drummer Billy Hart.
A couple of the tracks from these albums are revisited on the CD. “Around Bartók Bagatelle #4” at first reflects the elegant classicism of Beirach’s mesmerizing solo piano recordings then later his restless, harmonically adventurous artistry that has glimpses of the early influence of McCoy Tyner and Bill Evans among other piano modernist giants. As does his solo on Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Siciliana” with Huebner’s violin adding a bewitching yearning, jazz-inflected mediterranean quality. Of his originals, one of Beirach’s most popular, a classical-influenced, hauntingly melancholic version of “Elm” is a standout piece. Beirach’s infectious latin vamp on the standard “You Don’t Know What Love Is” is associated with Chet Baker and a reminder of Beirach’s tenure in his band early on in his career. Approaching the ripe old age of 70, it’s a moment to consider Richie Beirach’s high level achievements as one of America’s greatest living modernist jazz piano stylists. Originally a sideman of both Stan Getz and the aforementioned Baker, Beirach among others has enjoyed a memorably intimate association with the saxophonist Dave Liebman since the 1970s, in bands (Quest, Lookout Farm) that included the legendary Billy Hart whose explosive presence at times on the recording eclipses entirely his 76 years on the planet. “For Richie,” Huebner explains, “these are his oldest friends, these are the people he grew up with and these are the people he developed his music together.” In jazz that development doesn’t come to an end. It’s testament to the exploratory ‘young at heart’ spirit of the grand jazz masters on “Live at Birdland New York” that not for a second does anyone rest on their considerable laurels.