Darren Litzie: On My Own Time

Pianist Darren Litzie's sophomore release as a leader, On My Own Time, eschews the horns of his first release and takes a simpler approach, with bassist Chris DeAngelis and drummer John Riley providing the solid rhythm backing. Litzie also wrote two-thirds of the tunes and shows an imaginative approach to composition, writing in different beat-centric genres to highlight his strong sense of rhythm and melody.

It is the rhythm of Litzie's playing that really stands out. There is a sense of Vince Guaraldi's syncopated playing and Herbie Nichols' style of tying the melody to the drum's cadence, but Litzie has cultivated a real sound of his own.

The album opens with power chords before turning into a baião, a Brazilian dance genre, with Riley stutter-stepping the beat and DeAngelis taking a short solo. But it is Litzie's show, and his rhythmic playing propulses the piece forward.

"Just After Three" takes on a waltz-like rhythm by the bass and drums that allows Litzie to stretch out, and "Maybe We'll Try" is a samba-based tune that sounds modern and traditional simultaneously, with DeAngelis' bass work driving the song to keep your feet tapping.

Litzie feels as comfortable with the blues as well, taking strolling solos on "If Only I Could Forget" and "Busy Work" before swinging out with the band on "Before Tomorrow." "A Short Walk from Here" starts as a standard jazz outing before taking an unexpected rhythmic turn that Litzie suggests in the liner notes is a nod to John Coltrane's "Giant Steps."

The three covers Litzie chooses are of interest as well. He takes a fairly straight approach to the arrangement of "Moonlight in Vermont," but his arrangement of Thelonious Monk's "In Walked Bud" provides an almost funk groove to the song while staying true to the main riff. Litzie demonstrates the ability to rearrange even the giants of jazz to fit his rhythmic inclinations.

And he ends the album with a cover of the Zombies' "Time of the Season," a hit from the 1960s, but drops the insistent bass line of the original and instead focuses the piano on the melody of the vocals, remaking the song in his style. It is a bold choice, and one that works. The arrangement ties up the album nicely as a complement to his original works. Altogether, the album is a solid display of artful jazz piano and song composition.  

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