Album Notes

Jazz pianist and composer Johannes Wallmann and his quartet pay homage to New York's Alphabet City. Featuring the pianist's working trio of the last five years with bassist Martin Wind, and drummer Jeff Hirshfield, along with special guest saxophonist Seamus Blake, "Alphabeticity" contains six brand-new Wallmann compositions, including the hard-swinging "Sky Dance", the tender ballad "As I Think Of You", the funky boogaloo of the title track, and the mysterious "Dark Paths". Strewn into the mix are an innovative update on Duke Ellington's famous "Caravan" and a brooding re-interpretation of the jazz standard "You Don't Know What Love Is".
"Alphabeticity" marks the maturation of the pianistic and compositional style of the German-Canadian pianist, now in his late twenties. While his interest in the music of Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Kenny Wheeler continues to influence the music of his bands, on "Alphabeticity" Wallmann demonstrates that he has found his own voice, successfully fusing an eclectic mix of influences, ranging from hard-bop to free improvisation, gospel to Bartok, Ellington to Avenue D. Alphabeticity succeeds because while it blends these diverse influences into a coherent whole, the quartet never looses sight of making the music groove. The result is an intelligent, appealing, fun album for lovers of acoustic jazz.