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Orrin Evans: Flip The Script
ByEvans' other projects include the Captain Black Big Bandwhose eponymous 2011 Posi-Tone debut was a full-on big band blowoutand Tarbaby, a small band with an edgier, darker, sound whose End Of Fear (Posi-Tone) was one of 2010's finest releases. Flip The Script is a more straight-ahead recording, but it still shines with an inventiveness and an emotional directness, heightened through the strong interplay between Evans, bassist

Ben Wolfe
bassb.1962

Donald Edwards
drumsMuch of the music on Flip The Script is characterized by a high-energy drive, with tunes such as "Clean House" and "Flip The Script" utilizing a fast-paced, aggressive and breathtaking approach. "The Answer" shares the drive of the faster numbers, thanks especially to Edwards' drums, but the pace is reduced a little on this swinging tune.
The slower tunes are equally inspiring: speed and strength give way to control and emotional engagement from all three players to form a set of resonant and powerful melodies. "Big Small" is a very slow blues on which Evans' percussive lines and Wolfe's fat, lowdown, tones contrast with Edwards' lighter patterns. "When" is more downbeata romantic, flowing, ballad.
Evans includes four contrasting cover versions. The slightly fractured rhythms and repeated phrases of "Question," by Tarbaby bassist

Eric Revis
bassb.1967

Dave Brubeck
piano1920 - 2012

Bill Evans
piano1929 - 1980
Two soul tunes also put in an appearance. Luther Vandross' "A Brand New Day" swings strongly, Edwards and Wolfe driving the rhythm as Evans opens up with hard-hitting but melodic piano. Evan's solo performance of Gamble and Huff's "The Sound Of Philadelphia" (the theme tune to Soul Train) is exquisite. Another slow, almost funereal, tempo finds Evans exploring new avenues within the song, drawing out a reflective melancholy, a longing for times past, that is genuinely affecting.
Evans already has an exceptionally strong discography, so to describe Flip The Script as one of his finest is to give it high praise indeed, which is exactly what it deserves. It's going to take a lot of pushing and shoving to get Flip The Script out of the 2012 Best Of lists. ">
Track Listing
Question; Clean House; Flip The Script; When; Big Small; A Brand New Day; TC's Blues; Someday My Prince Will Come; The Answer; The Sound Of Philadelphia.
Personnel
Orrin Evans
pianoOrrin Evans: piano; Ben Wolfe: bass; Donald Edwards: drums.
Album information
Title: Flip The Script | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Posi-Tone Records
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