For his sophomore album, pianist Brad Whiteley delivers Presence, a set of artfully textured originals tailormade for his top-flight band featuring Michael Eaton on tenor saxophone, Tom Guarna on guitar, bassist Matt Pavolka, and longtime drummer Kenneth Salters, who also played on Whiteley’s debut, Pathless Land. That album, an Editor’s Pick for DownBeat in June, 2014 in which critics dubbed Whiteley “an exciting young artist to watch” set the stage for the pianist as a composer and improvisor. Presence takes Whiteley’s artistry to a new level, demonstrating his ability to incorporate a world of influences into a warm, engaging whole, led by his hooked-filled writing and fluid pianism. The album is also somewhat of a Destiny Records family affair. Eaton, Guarna, and Salters have each released their own albums as leaders on the label, and Whiteley has filled the piano/keyboard chair on five Destiny albums aside from his own. Recorded at the world-renowned Avatar Studios (now the Power Station at BerkleeNYC) by Destiny’s own George Shalda, the outstanding musicianship of Presence shines with impeccable warmth and clarity.
