(Positone)

Pianist and composer David Ake paints a diverse musical landscape on his latest recording, Bridges. The project presents a nice multi-layered snapshot of Ake, who wrote all of the tunes on the project. The music goes from melodic, introspective, into a grinding swing or into a hypnoptic ballad. It’s a true journey for the listener. Helping to make the venture ever more interesting is an outstanding lineup of musicians, which includes Ravi Coltrane and Peter Epstein on saxes, Scott Colley on bass, Ralph Alessi on trumpet and Mark Ferber on drums. Ake’s top-notch pianissimo, added to his compositional artistry, makes the whole endeavor just terrific.