Odesa

Album review

Ukrainian pianist Vadim Neselovskyi paints a poignant, deeply personal portrait of his hometown with 2022's vibrant and moving solo piano recording Odesa. Based in New York City ever since immigrating in the early '00s, Neselovskyi has garnered acclaim for his harmonically sophisticated and swinging work as a member of vibraphonist Gary Burton's group. He's also released a handful of his own solo and small group albums, and contributed to heady projects with John Zorn, French horn player Arkady Shilkloper, and fellow pianist Craig Taborn. While all this work has continued to find him traveling around the globe, his thoughts often brought him back to his early life in Odesa, memories that took on ever more urgency and clarity with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Conceptualized as a kind of walking tour of the city, Neselovskyi draws inspiration from many of the landmarks and places that shaped his youth, as on "Odesa Railway Station," "Potemkin Stairs," and "Waltz of Odesa Conservatory," the latter of which was where he first began his musical journey at age 15. These are intimate, yet sparkling performances that showcase Neselovskyi's vivid blend of classical and jazz harmonies, a style that brings to mind luminaries like Keith Jarrett and Glenn Gould. Blessed with a dazzling technique, Neselovskyi is a dynamic performer, capable of delivering spirals of notey arpeggios one minute before descending into crashing waves of bass-heavy dissonance the next as he does on the evocative "Odesa 1941," an homage to a tragic mass murder of jews in the city during World War II. While war and heartache are certainly at the core of much of Odesa, Neselovskyi also conjures moments of deep, pastoral beauty as on the spare and balletic "Winter in Odesa" and the yearning "Acacia Trees." With Odesa, Neselovskyi has crafted a loving, artfully rendered tribute to the people, places, and history of his hometown, both past and future.
© Matt Collar /TiVo