Cd - Michel Petrucciani, Steve Gadd & Anthony Jackson - Trio In Tokyo (CD)

Discover this essential jazz release on CD, featuring a leather-effect sleeve that offers an elegant texture and a refined tactile experience.

If there is one quality that best defines both Michel Petrucciani’s personality and his music, it is generosity. Onstage, in the heat of the moment, close to the audience, within the intimate energy of a club atmosphere, he expressed his passion for sharing with absolute sincerity.

"A lot of musicians have a playing style that is too egotistical," he once said. "They play just for themselves and for an elite few. I play to give pleasure and to communicate. I like to think of myself as a very happy person. That’s why it is so important for me to pass along and give to others the generosity that is indispensable in art, music, and life."

This generosity shines through in these magnificent moments captured live in Tokyo in 1997. Joined by Anthony Jackson and Steve Gadd—two close friends with whom he shared an almost telepathic musical connection—Michel Petrucciani delivers a blazing hour of piano, blending standards and original compositions to unleash his boundless expressiveness.

Once again, we are struck by the radiant clarity of his phrasing, the vigor and percussive precision of his touch. A true master of tempo, he played “all the way through the note,” shaping long, flowing phrases where each note is distinctly heard. His playing brought both accent and dimension to every piece. But above all, it was defined by absolute sincerity.

His heart sang directly through the piano. And this album is one of the most astonishing demonstrations of that.

Text by Pascal Anquetil