Turn Up The Quiet

By BRUCE HANDY

Album titles that sound like Zen koans are almost always a sign of musical vapidity (New Age alert!). But not here. On his seventh disc as a leader, this adventurous 27-year-old jazz pianist justifies the title's paradox with playing that is full of odd stops and starts and tonal shifts, all of which he negotiates with delicacy rather than flash. This is music that manages to be both prickly and soothing--like anxious lullabies (to suggest another unappetizing title). Though Keezer gives himself three solo numbers--a highlight being his gentle deconstruction of Lush Life--the heart of the album is a series of tunes featuring Keezer in an all-star trio setting with bassist Christian McBride and saxophonist Joshua Redman. The lack of a drummer to knit things together in the usual way, along with Keezer's provocative, concerto-like arrangements (his accompaniment can be even more interesting than his solos), suggests a kind of jazz version of Baroque counterpoint. Three cuts feature a breathy Diana Krall on vocals; two others nibble on the airier edges of fusion with an expanded cast of electronic and acoustic musicians. Miraculously, it mostly all coheres--one more paradox.

--By Bruce Handy