Pianist Billy Childs has been at the forefront of American jazz for almost 30 years now, having released his first solo album in 1988 and paid his dues prior to that in bands led by legnds such as JJ Johnson and Freddie Hubbard.
Aside from the instrumental compositions featuring on the track listing, Childs’ sole sung ballad, Stay, brings us the curiously expressive voice of one Alicia Olatuja. Her voice can be deliberately thin but flowers into mild torch intensity when the song gets into its stride. Stay is a bittersweet plea - stay 'just for a lifetime.' 'I had pictured us married some day,' sings Olatuja, and the sense is, well that’s not going to happen. Nevertheless, to lighten the gloom, Childs plays glorious piano lines that weave like a creeping flower through the piece.
The much-respected Chilean singer Claudia Acuña co-wrote the title track Rebirth with Childs. She sings vocalese on the track which races along with the kind of vim and ebullience that reminds one of Chick Corea’s Fiesta. Dance of Shiva is a fast-paced vehicle featuring Eric Harland’s hard snare drum pressed into staccato synchronicity with Childs’ piano.
A reading of Michel Le Grand’s Windmills of Your Mind which plays fast and loose with the original melody to fine effect. The Starry Night - the longest track on the album at 8:10 - begins lyrical and sensual before it suddenly takes off and soars with gusto, as Steve Wilson leads proceedings on saxophone.
There is something agile and supple about the music in general on Rebirth, which one can say too about another recent Mack Avenue release, Joey DeFrancesco’s Project Freedom, also reviewed on these pages. Tunes-wise, the nearest the album comes to a plangent or reflective mood is Peace, the final track, on which Childs' solo piano is complemented by Wilson's ruminative sax line. Due tribute must also be paid to Hans Glawishing, a firm, unshowy bass player on this strking album.
Paddy Kehoe
