by
Don Lerman
Long-time San Francisco Bay pianist Eric Muhler marks his return to the Bay area Jazz scene, after an 18-year hiatus to raise a family, with two recordings issued in 2006 and 2007. A co-founder of the prominent sextet Quiet Fire from the 1980s, Muhler is a formidable composer of wide range and breadth, with playing that employs Classical elements as well as Jazz harmonies suggestive of the music of McCoy Tyner and Richie Beirach. In a live concert (1) recorded at The Jazz School in Berkeley, Muhler and his trio delve into his twelve compositions in a varied program of nearly 80 minutes. Muhler is dynamic on the Tyner-like vehicle “Sand Castles,” with bassist Michael Wilcox and drummer Rob Gibson propelling the Latin-tinged vehicle forward. Other energetic selections include “Jane at Work,” “Sambatito,” and “Sweet Dreams,” the last done playfully with gospel overtones. Muhler has a special affinity for contemplative ballads, as shown in “Starting,” featuring an inspired and melodic Wilcox solo, “Goodbye to a Painted Lady,” with Muhler dramatic at times on the appealing melody, and “Song for Jane,” including advanced harmonies as well as a lullaby from Muhler on solo piano.
Muhler’s more recent recording (2) is entirely solo piano, recorded with great clarity on a Yamaha grand piano at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. Taking his time on eight cuts, with four of them over the eight minute mark and two cuts approaching ten minutes, Muhler performs with great presence and patience, leaving time and space between impressionistic piano thoughts. This is especially true for three cuts that were entirely spontaneous improvisations conceived at the studio, “The Magus,” “Slow Turn,” and “Galapagos.” An evocative photo of Bartholomew Island in Galapagos by Muhler’s daughter Zoe serves as an appropriate cover for this music depicting Muhler’s “Other Worlds.”
Also released on Muhler’s Slow Turn label is a recording of Muhler’s original Quiet Fire group (3), a studio session which album notes suggest took place around 1985. Many of the cuts have an uplifting and joyful spirit, employing Latin and rock/fusion rhythms, but with greater harmonic content and development than would be expected from Jazz Fusion of that era. In his album notes, Muhler recalls forming Quiet Fire, feeling fortunate to include the inspiring guitarist Dave Creamer, as well as tenor sax player Larry Schneider, who had just returned from a recording stint with Bill Evans in New York. The music from the one day session of seven Muhler compositions performed by Quiet Fire holds up quite well today, apart from some lack of clarity in the recording quality.
