Ches Smith
Interpret It Well
Pyroclastic Records
★★★★★

THIS album is a sizzler. With percussionist Ches Smith, pianist Craig Taborn, Mat Maneri playing viola and guest guitarist Bill Frisell, it’s a melange of full-blooded musicianship, on-the-cusp melody and ever-inventive improvisation that frees its listeners’ spirits to make their own interpretations after months of creative confinement.

The music’s “open sections told their own stories, revealing unearthed dimensions,” says Brooklyn-based Smith. Taborn’s pianism is like universal drums — listen to the title track — so much so that he and Smith are like two drummers drumming.