'Avenging Angel' is Craig Taborn's distinguished contribution to the great solo piano tradition at ECM, first established by the likes of Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and Paul Bley. Taborn's highly original album claims its own space. A powerful, purposeful and rigorous disc, which rises to the challenges of the format and transcends them, it explores the textural dimensions of sound, builds new structures, and uncovers a rugged lyricism.
Recorded in July 2010 in the optimal acoustics of the recital room at Lugano's Studio RSI, with Manfred Eicher producing, it's Taborn's first disc under his own name for ECM, following on from highly-inspired sessions with Roscoe Mitchell, Evan Parker, David Torn and Michael Formanek. It's also Taborn's first-ever solo piano album.
Solo work has played an increasingly important role in Craig's work in recent years. Taborn has been frequently cited by critics as one of the most important younger pianists. He has repeatedly been voted # 1 Rising Star Keyboardist in the Downbeat International Jazz Critics Poll.
Born in Detroit in 1970, Taborn first came to international attention as a member of saxophonist James Carter's ensembles. By the late 1990s he was playing regularly with Roscoe Mitchell - he appeared on Mitchell's Nine To Get Ready on ECM in 1997 - and leading his own groups. In the 2000s he was heard often in Tim Berne's bands and played with Dave Douglas, Gerald Cleaver and many others. One of the most sought after sidemen and sessioneers, valued for his quick-witted improvising capacity, there is growing awareness among the jazz listening public that he is one of the great pianists of the present moment.
"There is no place for fear of doubt in pianist Craig Taborn's playing - such states are banished form a mind that seeks to explore the musical possibilities of each moment with maximum freedom. Taborn's improvisational playing is a continual creation where the journey is the thing...True improvisers like Taborn, with the ability to take the leap into the unknown, have always been a fairly rare breed." - allaboutjazz.com
Personnel: Craig Taborn (piano)