Liner Notes for Blue in Blue by George Colligan I believe that after listening to Kerry Politzer's latest offering, "Blue In Blue," listeners will be wondering why they've never heard of her before. I believe that she should be a household name (at least in households where people listen to jazz). Hopefully this recording will put her closer to that. Kerry Politzer has everything you would want in a jazz pianist: chops, invention, tone, emotion, rhythm and originality. She has studied an enormous amount of music: she started piano at age three, got heavily into classical music at age 8, and continued through high school (North Carolina School of the Arts) and college (New England Conservatory). But while in Boston, she caught the jazz bug and decided to switch majors from classical to jazz. Having to start from scratch, but having great ears and and a great mind, she began transcribing solos (without using the piano) of everyone from Lee Morgan to Chick Corea. She also became a student of the late Charlie Banacos, who inspired her even further than she had imagined. Jazz musicians transcribe solos not to play exactly like somebody, but to understand the jazz language and create their own ideas. It's sort of like standup comedians listening to the great comics to learn joke construction and rhythm, but no young comedian should go up and do Bill Cosby's "I started out as a child" routine verbatim! Kerry has exemplified this in her music. She has influences and depth in her improvisation and her composition, but she clearly has her own sound and her own unique thought process. "Desolation or Hope" is representative of this. It's essentially a tone poem, harmonically and compositionally advanced and yet it has a simple message and a singularity which makes a great improvisational vehicle. On "Early Spring Chill", Kerry shows her magnificent ear for melody but also her ability to use harmony to give us an emotional journey. "November" is such a simple melodic idea but it sets and mood so perfectly. This tune might become a standard jazz tune in the future. Kerry shows off not only her marvelous playing but her comping skills behind the incredible saxophonist Donny McCaslin. "Washington Park" is a great trio tune: deceptively simple sounding but the form is irregular. Kerry is able to make this irregularity seem natural in her composing and improvisation. Bassist Paul Beaudry provides the perfect balance of solid support and loose playful interaction. You can clearly hear Kerry's love of Brazilian music on "Shifting Clouds"; again, she makes it seem easy. 7/4 time can seem lopsided, but not on this performance. This is a really nice quartet version of the song. A lot of rhythmic drama occurs. "Brazilian Accents" obviously shows the influence of Hermeto Pascoal, but it actually started out as a compositional exercise during her study with Charlie Banacos. And "Sing" is a beautiful samba melody, very typical of Jobim or Chico Buarque. Kerry's solos show her understanding of the samba feel, so organic and distinctive. "What Will Be" is another potential jazz standard. The tune is masterfully constructed, taking simple ideas and tossing them around in a highly artistic and unpredictable way. The rhythmic interplay is on a very high level on this track. It's kind of in a Chick Corea's " Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" vein, but dare I say even more rhythmically advanced. "Blue in Blue" and "Left Unsaid" are two very intense ballads which show a brooding emotionalism which is wonderful to witness. This is where the listener will hopefully forget about whether this is a jazz record or what have you, and just revel in the moment, and ultimately be moved by the music of Kerry Politzer.