Leslie Pintchik - LYDIALIEBMAN.COM

Prayer for What Remains
Release Date: September 13, 2024

In a personal note that follows the liner notes of her new album, Prayer for What Remains, pianist/composer Leslie Pintchik writes that the title track “was inspired by a photo taken by the war photographer Joseph Eid. In it, a man smoking a pipe in Aleppo, Syria sits in his bombed-out bedroom, listening to music on a manual gramophone that operates without electricity. A tragic image of war, yes, but one that Eid said ‘talks about life’ as well.”

When she listened in the studio to the playback of Prayer for What Remains, Pintchik says she was especially moved by the performance of the musicians who played “so true to the tune’s emotional core.” And she adds, “A special shout-out to Steve Wilson for the tenderness with which he played the counter-melody, and for the passionate restraint and beauty of his solo.”

Pintchik’s new recording, which releases on September 13, 2024, showcases her gifts as pianist, composer and arranger, and features eight of her original tunes, along with a cover of Joni Mitchell, and one from the Beatles. As on her previous albums, Pintchik performs with a touch both delicate and robust: caressing ballads like “Private Moment,” digging into hard-edged funk on “Just Sayin’” and “Request Denied!”, and swinging with effervescence on “Over Easy,” all while enjoying exceptional support from her long-time bandmates, bassist Scott Hardy and drummer Michael Sarin, and close collaborators Satoshi Takeishi on percussion and special guest Steve Wilson on saxophone.

MORE ABOUT PRAYER FOR WHAT REMAINS:

In his liner notes for the album, Allen Morrison writes that Pintchik’s music “still doesn’t sound like anyone else’s. I always recognize her voice at the piano within a few measures… Her playing has a thoughtful, conversational quality; listening to her is like chatting with a dear, clever, complicated friend.” About Pintchik’s bandmates, he says, “The telepathy that the trio achieves on this record is something possible only after many years of close collaboration. The same uncanny synergy and creativity can be heard with the addition of Satoshi Takeishi and Wilson.”

An epic of feeling in just 28 bars, “Prayer for What Remains”, reflects a sense of mourning for what’s been lost, as well as a sense of beauty and hope for what might be reclaimed. The seriousness and sense of purpose in the band is striking.

A loose, bright straight-eighths original, “Later Than We Thought” features a spacious melody within a Brazilian-based groove that glides effortlessly. Since it’s always “later than we thought,” says Pintchik, the tune ends abruptly, in medias res on a sustained dominant chord. Pintchik describes the following track, “Request Denied!”, as a jagged funk tune and great fun to play with her trio – but one she’s also somewhat sorry she had the occasion to write. Its inspiration, or more accurately the harassment that induced it, was the wall-mounted basketball hoop her neighbors installed in their children’s designated playroom, which unfortunately shares a wall with her bedroom. Requests for them to move it to a different room were denied, hence the title. Let the games begin!

The lovely ballad, “Private Moment,” showcases Pintchik’s pristine touch on the piano, as well as the marvelous intimacy she shares with her bandmates. This updated version includes a solo piano statement of the melody before the band joins her. “Over Easy,” a wonderfully playful tune Pintchik often plays live, swings hard with the addition of Steve Wilson’s soprano sax. Pintchik and Wilson play the melody in unison, and their tight blend makes the melody sound as if it’s being played by one instrument.

A pair of notable cover selections follow. Pintchik’s reharmonized version of the iconic Beatles tune “I Will” strips away the somewhat tongue-in-cheek flavor of the original, which helps to bring out the melody’s intrinsic beauty. Hardy’s more felt-than-heard acoustic guitar part adds an understated lushness. Pintchik’s version of Joni Mitchell’s “Banquet” retains the defiant quality of the original, but also adds a mournful undercurrent to the mix, particularly in the statement of the melody. The piano solo often feels more like an ensemble solo, with intense interaction among all the band members.

“Open Secret” opens with an airy out-of-tempo intro by Pintchik and Takeishi, which then gives way to a raucous, samba-based groove. All told, it’s a quick shot of adrenaline which ends almost before it begins. It shifts into the moving ballad, “Grief,” features a spare performance by Pintchik and the ensemble. This stark, stripped-down reading ends with a haunting bass tremolo and Takeishi’s eerie percussion. The album’s final track is a terrific live performance of Pintchik’s intricate funk tune, “Just Sayin’,” recorded at NYC’s Jazz at Kitano.