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Tim Niland reviews “Flip the Script” for his Music and More blog…

jazzandblues.blogspot.com

Orrin Evans is a young pianist and composer, well known for his work in the Captain Black Big Band and his solo work as a leader. On this trio album, he is accompanied by Ben Wolfe on bass and Donald Edwards drums. There are echoes of past masters like Andrew Hill and McCoy Tyner on this album, but Evans is definitely his own man and his own spirit and vision shines through on this recording. “Question” opens the recording with the trio achieving a bright uptempo sound of rippling piano over taught bass and drums. Strong Tyner-ish piano is the hallmark of “Clean House” where Evans’ muscular piano offsets a subtle dynamism that pervades the music. The deep nature of the music continues on “Flip the Script” where strong dark chords mix with propulsive bass and drums to make a fast and potent brew. The highlight of the album for me was the storming composition “A Brand New Day” which shows the trio firing on all cylinders. Strength, speed and power all come together here in a very potent performance. Another excellent performance was “T.C.’s Blues” which has a dynamic start-stop feel with strong piano and drums buoyed by by elastic bass with space for self-expression.