Young Milwaukee pianist-singer-composer Anthony Deutsch has old-soul wisdom and speaks to people about matters of the heart, and the mind/body disconnect that often separates us from our own nature and from Nature.
The style recalls the spare tunesmithing of The Bad Plus’ Ethan Iverson, bolstered by Father Sky bassist John Christensen and drummer Devin Drobka. But Deutsch loves Nina Simone. His bluesy-gospel singing deeply abides her forlorn, loamy eloquence—her world-weary persistence and faith. To me, he also mirrors the exquisite jazz singer-pianist Andy Bey—the naked willingness to reveal male vulnerability.
Still, Deutsch’s Father Sky-meets-Mother Earth sensibility tends a personal ecological vision, like someone picking bits of grimy dust out of a spider’s web. Deutsch croons, but his spacious baritone sometimes projects like a wolf howling at the moon. He leans on the sustain pedal and major keys, but the piano also dapples sun-lit atmospherics. “Soon, My Love” has a funky kick Gil Scott-Heron would dig. “Gonna Find Home” yearns for a home that’s everywhere, like the holy land Lakota Black Elk spoke of. This beguiling talent might just take you away, home.
