To The Surface by Lawrence Fields
After a decade of contributing his pensively fluid jazz pianism to other artists’ recordings, Lawrence Fields makes his debut leading a trio to showcase his keyboard innovations. Were he a guitarist, it might be said that Lawrence shreds. Fields is fond of adorning his uplifting melodies with plenty of notes, but some of the joy to be had from To the Surface is following his tunes amid the ornate pizzazz he lends them. More than once, Field, bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Corey Fonville leave a piece with a warm ending; the fading sound intimating both the forward motion of the composition and the possibilities of concert improvisations.
Breathtaking as his virtuosity can be, a detour into interpreting a heartbreaker of an early Frank Sinatra ballad comes as a spacious breather toward the set’s end. Amid Fields’ understandable excitement overstepping out on his own after supporting luminaries such as Branford Marsalis and Joe Lovano for so long, however, he could have shared some of his well-earned spotlight a little more with the rest of his ensemble for solos. Nonetheless, To the Surface demonstrates that his long spell as a supporting player has prepared him well for the headliner status to which he has ascended.
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