Album Review: Transitions from Yaron Gershovsky

Album:  Transitions
Artist:  Yaron Gershovsky
Label:  Dorron Music
Website:  http://www.yaronmusic.com

A compilation of original music and cover tunes, Transitions, the latest CD from pianist/keyboardist, arranger, composer, and producer Yaron Gershovsky, delves into a wide range of jazz-imbued styles from hard bop to samba, swing, easy listening, and stride piano.  His arrangements are upbeat and well-tailored for the jazz connoisseur palate.

Opening with the revving grooves of "Northern Light," Gershovsky's jaunty keys bask in the hard bop flurries amassed by Boris Kozlov on upright bass and Cliff Almond on drums.  Switching to a smooth jazz climate in the title track, Gershovsky's sleek key strokes are scaffold by the floating sensations of David Mann's alto flute as the coasting beats of drummer Clint de Ganon and electric bassist Will Lee prop lolling swells along the melodic progressions. The ambient emanations traverse blissfully across the track exuding a Kenny G-bent in its make-up.

His rendition of Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon's deftly crafted "Scarborough Fair" pervades a Celtic lilt in Aubrey Johnson's vocals as Gershovsky's keyboard effects add glitter and verve to the track.  Buttressed by Kozlov's upright bass and Ross Pederson's drums, the dreamy embers of the melody carry the listener along an ethereal plane.  Gershovsky's instinct for stride piano comes through on "What She Said" as his keys prance and flitter with a vibrancy that is infectious.

The soft swinging vibrations of Alex Sipiagin's trumpet trundling along "Show Me The Way" are festooned by Kozlov's softly pulsating beats on the upright bass and Pederson's delicately throbbing drums. The tender twinkle of Gershovsky's keys swaddle the melody in a moonlight glow.  Gershovsky flexes his melodic sensibilities with the samba-laced knolls of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "So Danço Samba," speckled in the scampering beats of Kozlov's bass and Almond's drums as Johnson's charismatic vocals insert entrancing undulations.  The pensive embers of "The Lonely Tree" showcase Gershovsky performing alone, playing an emotive soliloquy of intertwining verses that hold the audience enthralled.

The compilation displays Gershovsky playing solo and in both a jazz trio and quartet with vocalist Aubrey Johnson.  Born in Israel, Gershovsky has amassed a long and fruitful lifestyle as a professional pianist/keyboardist, composer, arranger, and producer.  Transitions is another trophy on his mantle that he can be proud to call his own.

Musicians:
Yaron Gershovsky - piano
Boris Kozlov - upright bass
Cliff Almond - drums.
Will Lee - electric bass
Clint de Ganon - drums
David Mann - alto flute.
Aubrey Johnson - vocals
Ross Pederson - drums
Alex Sipiagin: trumpet