Lukás Oravec – Piotrology
Slovakian trumpeter and flugelhornist Lukás Oravec shows his energetic and fiery style on his latest album “Piotrology” which features Vincent Herring on saxophone. The 27-year old Lukás has also written three of the tunes on his album except one song by Vincent which can also be found on the saxophonist’s brilliant last release and two by his bassist Tomás Baros.
Dávid Hodek has a vivid drum solo on the opening title track and the modern jazz feel of the composition and the boppish playing throughout show a skillful and imaginative player and writer. No wonder that he has already won numerous awards, like the Best Slovak Album of the Year for his debut in 2014.
More in a modal mood at times is the very elegant “Moonday” which features some superb playing by pianist Kálmán Oláh and also a svelte bass solo by Tomás Baros. Bass and piano are having a cute little dance here on this one before the leader steps in with a warmer, engrossing sound on this midtempo tune. Nice one!
Even more soothing is the 11-minute opus “Red In Brown” which starts off with a dreamy piano interlude and develops into an introspective and finely crafted work of art with some dense and intimate playing throughout. Tempo is up again for Vincent’s “Adventures Of Hyun Joo Lee” where Lukás displays some Art Farmer-like lyricism and swinging phrases. And the interplay with Vincent just comes naturally and clicks as if they’ve been playing together for a long time.
There is more ease and sophistication on the cool “D1” and another long piece with brisk and experimental, more adventurous features (“Mood For Wood”) that make this a well-rounded effort.
