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Kenny Werner

Lawn Chair Society

Blue Note 0946 3 74896 2 8

A typically open-eared and accomplished New York-based pianist/composer, Kenny Werner has assembled a top-class band (trumpeter Dave Douglas, reedsman Chris Potter, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade) for this wide-ranging, intriguing recording, which also features a couple of electronically based pieces from producer Lenny Picket.

Werner's own compositions range from pleasantly jerky and nervy themes explored by garrulous horns over a rattling rhythm section ('New Amsterdam') to the tender, almost hymnic 'Uncovered Heart', the softly crooned horns on which embellish a plangent melody that occasionally brings Abdullah Ibrahim to mind, and other meditative pieces clearly dedicated ¡ as is the entire album ¡ to Werner's late daughter.

What chiefly impresses, though, is the poise and elegance with which the band approaches the varied textures and tempos woven artfully into Werner's music, and the restrained power and imagination that infuse their interpretations of it ¡ a classy recording from a great band.