In the new Philadelphia Weekly:
Martial Solal
Sat., Apr. 9, 8pm. $32-$38. Kimmel Center, 260 South Broad St. 215.731.3333 www.kimmelcenter.org
There are only three pianists who’ve had the honor of playing solo for a week at the Village Vanguard: Fred Hersch, Cecil Taylor and 83-year-old Algerian-born Frenchman Martial Solal. With a firm attack, dazzling chops and whimsical but unfailingly logical way of shredding chord changes, Solal is a modern master. But this is a virtuosity informed by deep firsthand contact with masters of old: Solal recorded with jazz founding father Sidney Bechet back in the ’50s, shortly before Bechet’s death. Recent collaborations with Dave Douglas (Rue De Seine), monster bassist François Moutin (NY1, Longitude) and others have kept Solal young at heart. He’ll return to the Vanguard next week with Moutin, but Philly gets him first, unaccompanied. Hear him and you won’t forget him. — David R. Adler
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