Uncovered Heart amidst Werner's Electric Mayhem

Uncovered Heart - Kenny Werner
Inaugural Balls - Kenny Werner
from the album Lawn Chair Society on Blue Note (2007).

Pianist/Composer Kenny Werner has a new album out this week entitled Lawn Chair Society, which is his first release for Blue Note. Werner assembled quite a band for this album with horns Dave Douglas and Chris Potter, Scott colley on bass, the great Brian Blade on drums, and production by Lenny Picket (of Tower of Power fame).

Overall the album didn't do much for me, but I was really floored by the track "Uncovered Heart." Originally written years ago following the birth of Werner's daughter Katheryn, the track was to be re-recorded for this album even before Katheryn's tragic passing in an automobile accident. Even without knowing the backstory (as I didn't when I first heard it) the emotional pull of this song is tremendously strong. Normally here at Ear Fuzz I usually favor more bombastic stuff, but this smooth song is mellow beauty through and through generating feelings of both hope and sadness at once. Blade's brush work adds superb texture to the melody that gets passed back and forth between the piano, horns, and even bass (nice solo near the midway point).

While Werner stated this to be his first album to heavily utilize "electronic" styles, the rest fo the album is some fair to good straight jazz work (Werner originals) with occasional electronic flourishes and three truely abysmal purely electronic tracks (thankfully they are at least short). I included "Inaugural Balls" as a good example of what the rest of the album is like with another strong performance by Blade and Werner and the legendary horn players rather under-utilized. Still, nothing else on the labum touches "Uncovered Heart" in either mood or quality.

Finally, maybe in keeping with the desire to add "computer music" to his jazz arsenal, the album art (see image above and at amazon link) is an enjoyable double homage to Rene Magritte and Window's Bliss Desktop.

In addition to album art that is a kindly homage to both Rene Magritte and the Windows "bliss" desktop,