Diehl, Aaron - The Vagabond

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The best way to describe Aaron Diehl’s new recording, The Vagabond, is that it is a quiet masterpiece. While this is thoroughly a jazz recording rooted in precedents set by Diehl’s forbearers such as Art Tatum, Mary Lou Williams, Ahmad Jamal, Roland Hana and John Lewis; it will come as no surprise to fans of Aaron’s previous two Mack Avenue recordings that clear references are made to his background and simultaneous career as a Classical music performer. This recording takes its title from Diehl composition The Vagabond, a work which, like the album on which it appears, centers around a strong melodic core that does not depend on a breakneck tempos for showcasing its technical wizardry; always in service of the music rather than as a feature unto itself. As always with Aaron Diehl, the music on The Vagabond is elegant with a profound and expansive pianism that doesn’t announce itself but is nevertheless revealed in the music it serves.