Label: Rue de la harpe Records
Personnel: Craig Pilo, drums/Mitchel Forman, Fender Rhodes piano/Ed Czach, keyboards/Tom Kennedy, Bart Samolis & others, bass/Roman Dudok & Doug Webb, saxophone
Genre: '70s jazz
Recommended for: everyone, but especially fans of '70s jazz fusion ala Weather Report

Connecticut native Craig Pilo has been a Los Angeles-based studio drummer since graduating from the University of North Texas College of Music in the 1990s. His musical evolution has included recording and touring gigs with everyone from Pat Boone to Maynard Ferguson and Frankie Valli.

But his love for '70s-style jazz fusion ala Weather Report and Chick Corea's Return to Forever is clear in "Just Play," his latest release.  Pilo and a revolving group of musicians tackle an assemblage of standards ("Autumn Leaves," "Impressions") along with several originals by Pilo, and the result is an eclectic and compelling mix. 

Standouts include a cover of Jaco Pastorius' "Teen Town," Pilo's homage to one of the key compositions of the genre and the era. Pilo is crisp and forceful but never intrusive on the drums, and saxman Doug Webb offers his own innovative spin on the original Wayne Shorter solo. (This track takes on a particular poignancy now, just weeks after the death of Pastorius' Weather Report bandmate, keyboardist Joe Zawinul.) 

Miles Davis' "All Blues," meanwhile, gets a funky reworking that has to be heard to be believed. Pilo supercharges the tempo with shades of Cuban jazz, and keyboardist Mitchel Forman pulls out all the stops on (what else?) the Fender Rhodes electric piano. (What better to revive memories of '70s fusion than the sounds of a Fender Rhodes?) Forman starts subtly with block chords, but is soon letting loose with a series of rapid-fire arpeggios, just to keep pace with Pilo's beat.

Indeed, it's a tribute to Pilo that Forman's work is such a trippy highlight here; unlike some other drummer-leaders, Pilo is happy to share the spotlight and complement, not overwhelm, the rest of the band. 

-Tony Rogers

Buy it!

Other groups and albums mentioned in this review:

Weather Report: Heavy Weather

Chick Corea: Return to Forever

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue