Mid September's 2002 Verizon Music Festival—note the absence of the J-word—offered little to the J-audience beyond McCoy Tyner and Tony Bennett, at least in the big halls. But a week of solo piano recitals at the Jazz Standard filled me with more optimism about the J-future than anything else this year. Though dramatically different from each other, three pianists born in the '70s indicated a united front in their unconventional approaches, filtering of influences, and involvement with the music of their time. Each devised an emphatic solo style—a purely pianistic music, as opposed to a trio music without the trio. Several times I wondered whether Ethan Iverson, Vijay Iyer, and Jason Moran were playing jazz at all, but I never really cared. All of this was no less true of 41-year-old Matthew Shipp, who I will... More >>>