How to describe this music? A little Gershwin, a dash of Ellington, and a smidge of Scriabin–to call it eclectic hardly does it justice. It’s also marvelous. Nicolai Kapustin (b. 1937) writes Russian jazz, and he does it with taste, elegance, and wit. The two sonatas so deftly tossed off by Steven Osborne here manage to sound both improvisational and satisfying in regard to overall form: no mean feat. Beneath the highly polished surface there’s some pretty sophisticated musical thinking going on, and the nicest thing about it is that the music never once makes an obvious point of the fact. The 24 Jazz Preludes each deal with some aspect of jazz piano technique, and my only complaint about Osborne’s enticing performance is that he doesn’t give us the whole set. They are, one and all, delicious. Here’s a composer who really could “crossover” and achieve wider popularity, God willing. In the meantime, amuse yourself, befuddle your friends, and play this delightful disc again and again.
