Larry Vuckovich Trio

High Wall: Real Life Film Noir

(Tetrachord)

Pianist Larry Vuckovich follows up his 2006 collection of film noir-inspired music (Street Scene) with another helping of songs meant to call up the enduring cinematic form. However, Vuckovich’s sunny musical disposition seems at odds with the dark portents and generally cynical view of humanity embraced by noir. Still, excellent piano jazz abounds, as Vuckovich displays a thorough command of bop and hard bop, ably abetted by rotating groups of sidemen.

The title track comes from Bronislaw Kaper’s score for a 1947 film of the same name, starring Robert Taylor as a brain-injured man who may have killed his wife. Vuckovich’s superb rendition of this gorgeous melody possesses ample vitality and optimism to rise above its wistfulness.

A spirited caper through Dizzy Gillespie’s “Ow!” finds Vuckovich’s bright piano quickstepping to a brisk rhythm laid down by bassist Paul Keller and drummer Chuck McPherson and augmented by the congas of Hector Lugo. The pianist sounds just as comfortable digging into the bluesy boogaloo of Joe Sample’s “Put It Where You Want It,” with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Eddie Marshall providing a sultry simmer.

Vuckovich’s “View From Telegraph Hill” paints an affectionate portrait of San Francisco, his hometown since emigrating from Yugoslavia in 1951. Grenadier’s and Marshall’s sensitive accompaniment conjure the skyline at twilight as lights blink on. Vuckovich’s solo reading of “A Handful of Stars” visits similar tonal territory, albeit in a more melancholy mood.

Latin flavors wend their way through High Wall, as well. Vuckovich kick-starts the recording with the bouncy “Afro 6/8 Minor Blues,” then combines his own Slavic roots with a hearty montuno on “Gypsy Roma Mambo (Dark Eyes),” later resuming 6/8 time to enliven “Concierto de Aranjuez” following a stately solo intro.

Concluding the album, a couple of live tracks – Vuckovich’s should-be-a-standard “Lester’s Minor Blues” and John Coltrane’s “Locomotion” – capture the pianist with Keller, McPherson and Lugo in scintillating performance at Pete Douglas’ Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco.

Whether or not High Wall calls to mind smoky black-and-white noir imagery, it undoubtedly presents piano jazz played at a dazzlingly high level.      – Bob Weinberg