Phishbacher Trio - Plays The Beatles

(Lofish Music, 2023)

Lofish

The Beatles continue to be a wellspring of material for jazz musicians. Pianist Walter Phishbacher and his trio, on their eleventh release, address ten Beatles' favorites from the band's storied songbook while giving a master's class on arranging different performing styles for the individual songs. The trio comes full circle with the release of Plays The Beatles by returning to the traditional acoustic piano trio appearing on the band's debut recording Chillin' (Lofish, 2004).

Phishbacher is an orchestral pianist who draws from his instrument all it has to offer sonically. The pianist turns "Strawberry Fields" into a three-part suite involving a shimmering, Schubert-like introduction that gives way to a spacious and fresh presentation of the song's chorus before morphing into a lengthy, mainstream jazz interlude that winds its way back to the chorus and coda. Phishbacher's rhythm section, bassist Petr Dvorsky, and drummer Ulf Stricker meet the pianist's orchestral challenges culminating in a thrilling coda. But rather than setting a single stylistic tone to the disc, the opening piece only hints at the ingenuity of the remainder of the recording.

The percussive "Eleanor Rigby" takes the orchestral tone of "Strawberry Fields" upping the ante to a frenzied and driving performance steeped in drama and pathos. Phishbacher's invention in presenting the well-known melody is impressive, translating the song through many moods and musical faces. He takes this performance philosophy into a centripetally directed take on "Let It Be," turning the delicate ballad into an insistent mantra of immediate demand. "Here, There, and Everywhere" is presented as a proper, midtempo ballad, featuring a lyrical bass solo by Dvorsky over Stricker's delicate brushwork. "Hey, Jude" is treated as a midcentury modern swing piece, given a slight Latin flavor that disintegrates into a lofty deconstruction of elements.

Phishbacher goes all Latin on "Back In The USSR" as if on the streets of Havana before the revolution. Stricker's percussion drives the piece allowing the pianist the space for a muscular, two-fisted solo. The trio programmed "Blackbird" as the album coda, giving prominence to each of the members together and separately. Well conceived and intelligently paced, Plays The Beatles proves a compelling addition to the Beatles' continuing story.