Joey Calderazzo - Secrets (AudioQuest, 1995)

Joey Calderazzo, piano

Tim Hagans, trumpet, flugelhorn
Charles Pillow, tenor sax, bass clarinet, English horn

John Clark, French horn

Earl McIntyre, bass trombone, tuba
Tim Ries, soprano sax, flute
Fareed Haque, guitar

Thomas Ulrich, cello
James Genus, bass
Clarence Penn, drums

Bob Belden, arranger

Recorded January 26 & 27, 1995
Systems Two, NYC
Engineer: Joe Marciano

One of the pleasant surprises of the 1990s was producer Joe Harley's introduction of the Audioquest Music label. Audioquest is a brand known for its outstanding line of Hi-Fi cables. Audioquest Music's jazz and blues titles are engineered to the highest industry standards. Jazz artists recording for Audioquest include Larry Willis, Bennie Wallace, James Newton, David Binney, and Joey Calderazzo, among others. 

Calderazzo was initially admired for his early albums on Blue Note - In the Door (1991), To Know One (1992), and The Traveler (1993) - if only for the reputation of the label and the pianist's showy style. I was not impressed by these albums, but his self-titled trio album on Columbia (2000) revealed a more mature artist with his dues paid.

Thanks to Bob Belden's arrangements, Secrets bears little resemblance to Calderazzo's earliest recordings. With 7 additional players and 11 instruments to work with, Belden transforms 6 of the album's 8 cuts with glorious blends of timbres and pitch. Add in the audiophile-standard recording, and I hear a minor masterpiece.

Calderazzo penned 6 of the numbers on Secrets. The others are Vince Mendoza's "Scriabin," which first appeared on Michael Brecker's Don't Try This at Home (Impulse, 1988); and Miles Davis's "Filles de Kilimanjaro."

Belden's arrangements showcase Calderazzo's piano against a lush and sometimes disturbing backdrop. The lush numbers include "Secrets," "Aurora," and "Filles de Kilimanjaro," which Belden considers to be the album's centerpiece. 

The more disturbing arrangements include "Echoes," which is based on a repeated vamp played on bass clarinet for 7 full minutes. The minor "Scriabin" is sad and baroque. Only master arrangers could blend sadness with beauty, and it's no surprise that Belden's own Black Dahlia (Blue Note, 2001) is widely considered to be a "dark masterpiece."

Throughout, the sonics are wonderfully balanced. The 10-page liner notes refer to the Steinway grand piano used at the Systems Two studio, and the recording reveals its grandness. Sadly, Systems Two closed its doors in 2018 after more than 30 years and thousands of recordings.