an album that is full of musical riches.

HighNote HCD 7356

George Cables (piano); Essiet Essiet (bass); Jerome Jennings (drums)
Recorded Sear Sound, New York, NY, 30 January and 2 May 2024. Additional recording at Big Orange Sleep Studio, Brooklyn, NY (No date provided)

At the age of eighty, George Cables shows few signs of slowing down, both in terms of activity and musical ability. He became an octogenarian last November, and barely two weeks later, was playing four performances at the Half Note Jazz Club in Athens. This album brings his tally of albums as leader close to the forty-mark; his first – Why Not – was released back in 1975.

Cables is a hard bop pianist, whose influences include Monk and Herbie Hancock. His fluency and adaptability made him an in-demand sideman for artists such as, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Rollins, Roy Haynes, Joe Henderson, Max Roach, Woody Herman and Art Pepper. But Cables has also been a band leader since his teenage years – his first band included Billy Cobham, Steve Grossman and Lenny White in its line-up.

The dozens of albums he has recorded as leader have been largely solo, duo and trio line-ups, and I Hear Echoes is a trio configuration, with one solo piano piece. It’s also a mix of covers and originals. Cables has established a close working relationship with HighNote, and this is his seventh consecutive album with the label – the first – My Muse – was released in 2012.

The trio includes American bassist Essiet Essiet, whose parents were Nigerian immigrants. Essiet has been associated with Cables for around thirteen years and played on a handful of the pianist’s albums prior to this one. Essiet has also worked with Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Locke, Cedar Walton and Kenny Barron. Drummer Jerome Jennings hails from Cleveland, Ohio and has played with Sonny Rollins, Hank Jones, Christian McBride, Ron Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Wynton Marsalis. He’s been a member of Cables’ trio for the last four years.

In his liner notes, Cables says the album’s title represents various echoes – of his life; of the music he has played or composed, and songs that have remained etched in his mind. The opening number, ‘Echo Of A Scream,’ was inspired by a painting of the same name, created by Mexican artist David Alfaro Siquerios, which Cables saw in Museum of Modern Art in New York some years ago. It’s easy to see why it had an impact. The painting was produced in 1937, and like Picasso’s Guernica, was created as a response to the Spanish Civil War.

The painting depicts a large baby’s head screaming, and directly in front of the head is the echo of pain – the same baby, but this time smaller, in full body, wearing a red robe and sitting on top of a pile of debris, which could be the rubble left in the aftermath of a bombing raid.

‘Echo Of A Scream’ is a jittery, energetic piece, with a dramatic opening. Essiet plays a fast, spiralling bass vamp, which Cables doubles up on piano, before playing a counter melody that ends in a flurry of ascending notes at around the twenty-four second mark. At around 1:16, the band pauses and then plays a flowing Afro-Cuban

beat, interspersed with a series of stop-start sections. Cables is one of those pianists that are a joy to listen to. He plays with such grace, energy and fluidity, and always has something interesting to say. His playing has great economy and sensitivity. He can be bold and unpredictable, in terms of where he goes next on the keyboard, and so keeps both the listener and his band on their toes. Jennings and Essiet are more than up to the task of keeping up with Cables’ musical twists and turns.

‘Echoes’ is a more sedate piece, with Jennings lightly tapping a cymbal and Essiest playing a slow, steady vamp, over which Cables weaves a sweet motif. Two of the album’s tunes – both composed by Cables – have been recorded by him before. ‘Morning Song,’ first appeared on Eddie Henderson’s 1977 album ‘Comin’ Through’ and was a midtempo number on which Cables played electric piano and Henderson playing the song’s dark theme on fluegelhorn.

Cables later recorded a faster version on his 1979 album Cables Vision, again playing electric piano, along with Freddie Hubbard on flugelhorn and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. This trio version plays the tune at the slower pace, and Cables’ acoustic piano replaces the original flugelhorn part. If anything, this stripped down version makes you appreciate the song’s pretty melody even more.

‘Blue Nights’ is a pretty tune originally found on Cables’ 1995 solo piano album, Person to Person. On this trio version, Jennings taps out a slow, steady metronomic beat, Cables delivers a passionate performance and Essiet solos.

The covers include a tender version of Ellington’s ‘Prelude to a Kiss.’ On this, the rhythm section plays with such a lightness of touch that it sounds almost like a solo piano piece. There’s a spirited version of ‘So Near, So Far,’ made famous on Miles Davis’s Seven Steps to Heaven album, but as Cable notes, rarely covered by others. Cole Porter’s ‘You’d Be Nice To Come Home To,’ is played with an Afro-Cuban beat, and Jennings plays the drums with his hands. There’s also a fine version of Cedar Walton’s ‘Clockwise.’

Cables might be in his ninth decade, but he’s tuned into today’s music scene. ‘Journey To Agatha’ is composed by the young American pianist/composer Arcoiris Sandoval, whom Cable holds in high regard. Her website includes a quote from Cables: ‘“Arcoiris Sandoval is one of my favorite young pianists and composers. She has her own voice and creative point of view, with an infectious energy to whatever she plays. In other words, this young woman can play!!”

‘Journey to Agatha’ is also included in Terri Lyne Carrington’s book New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers. It’s a dynamic number, here played with great swing. By contrast, the album’s closer is a solo piano performance: a moving rendition of Horace Silver’s ‘Peace.’ A fine ending to an album that is full of musical riches.