He has a flowing, elegant style with great control, caressing the keys through his complex compositions, which sparkle with imagination and wit
Blue Note 7585514
Paul Cornish (piano); Joshua Crumbly (bass); Jonathan Pinson (drums); Jeff Parker (guitar, Track 7)
Recorded at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Los Angeles CA
Paul Cornish impressed recently on Joshua’s Redman’s new quartet album, ‘Words Fall Short’ (Blue Note 7591509). We now have the opportunity to hear him as leader of his own trio on this debut recording, and we are not disappointed.
‘You’re Exaggerating!’ presents nine of Cornish’s intelligent, forward-thinking originals inspired by memories, reflections and personal idols. He has a flowing, elegant style with great control, caressing the keys through his complex compositions, which sparkle with imagination and wit. He is joined by bassist Joshua Crumbly and drummer Jonathan Pinson, sounding as though they have been playing together for years.
Cornish continues a rich vein of current and past Blue Note artists who hail from Houston, Texas, and are alumni of the city’s Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, including Jason Moran, Robert Glasper, Walter Smith III, Kendrick Scott, Chris Dave and James Francies. Cornish moved to the West Coast to attend the USC Thornton School of Music and later graduated from UCLA’s Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, where he had the opportunity to work with Hancock and artist-in-residence, Wayne Shorter.
It should come as no surprise then that Cornish shows, not just highly developed technical and compositional skills, but also an ability to reach out, connect, and hold you through the myriad twists and turns of this absorbing album.
None of the tracks outstay their welcome; they are all tightly written, bursting with ideas, with the longest clocking in at 5:33 minutes. ‘DB Song’ (a reference to drum and bass) is a strong opening statement, grabbing your attention from the outset with a shifting melody developed amid cymbal washes, a resonating bassline, and whirling flurrries of keys. ‘Queinxiety’, a compound word describing how a calm exterior can hide inner anxiety, switches between parallel states, from a revolving upbeat theme to a boiling pot of rising emotions painted with cascading notes, and then back again.
Cornish shows his more contemplative side on ‘Slow Song’, which he takes on solo piano; a delightful piece with a meandering gaze which searches for and slowly takes form. From such relative calm we are moved into a state of heightened sensibilities on ‘5AM’ with building passages of impassioned playing that ebb and flow.
‘Dinosaur Song’ is a playful workout, building a sonorous, dance-like melody that catches from the start. The introduction of Jeff Parker’s guitar on ‘Palindrome’ adds a fascinating new dimension, surfing some of the edges and introducing new lines of joyful interplay.
‘Queen Geri’, a tribute to the great Geri Allen, is a particular highlight. Bristling with fiery energy and Latin sub-rhythms, Cornish steers an exciting course towards freer regions, but always holding onto melody. As Cornish says: “[Allen] would bring a more avant-garde and adventurous spirit to more traditional settings, and vice versa”, and this is a most fitting tribute.
‘You’re Exaggerating!’ is a highly rewarding work offering great scope for further exploration through repeated listening. It also leaves you wondering what it would be like to catch this trio live with space to fully stretch out on these imaginative compositions.
