Matthias Bublath

[GA Russell]

A year ago I reviewed the first album of a young New York pianist named Matthias Bublath. In the thread I go over how and why I got a copy of his CD:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...&hl=Bublath

Late last year he sent me a copy of his second album, just called Matthias Bublath.

Those of you from New York may be familiar with the personnel, who I suspect are young New York musicians like he is:

Tim Collins - vibes

Takuya Kuroda - trumpet

Yulia Musayelyan - flute

Fernando Huergo - bass

Franco Pinna - drums

Ludwig Afonso - drums

Most of the songs on this album have a latin beat. Bublath plays piano on all tracks. No organ this time.

The album is much more accessible than his first album. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The musicians and their solos are all good, but not outstanding. The best are Tim Collins again on vibes and Takuya Kuroda on trumpet. Bublath plays well, but is again a little too heavy-handed for his own compositions!

Bublath wrote ten of the eleven songs. This time, the compositions are not intellectual. Although this is not soul jazz, it probably would appeal to the same audience. An organ trio would do well with the same songs.

I've been playing this for six weeks, and I continue to enjoy it. It's happy music, and everyone sounds like he is having a good time. At first I gave it 3.5 stars, but over time I have bumped it up to 4 stars.

You can listen to it here:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/bublath2