Live From Summit Rock in Seneca Village

“Self Portrait (Rembrandt)”

(Giant Step Arts)

Along with the Burton/McPherson Trio, the Jason Palmer Quartet was among the jazz groups invited to perform for the Walk With the Wind concert series in Central Park during pandemic lockdown. Also like the trio, the trumpet player and his group were recorded during their performance, the results of which can be heard on Live From Summit Rock in Seneca Village (Giant Step Arts). Palmer selected material from his previous two albums for Giant Step Arts, including “Self Portrait (Rembrandt),” an extended version of which unfolds here in the company of tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Edward Perez and drummer Johnathan Blake. The tune begins with a richly melodic solo bass statement and a compelling bass-drums exchange that ratchets up the excitement. Turner, then Palmer, take their time developing emotionally complex solos, each beautifully supported by Perez and Blake. The song hails from Palmer’s 2020 recording The Concert: 12 Musings for Isabella, which was inspired by works of art heisted from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990; pieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet and Degas were never recovered.