Dan Cavanagh & James Miley with John Hollenbeck: Another Life
S/N Alliance

Being university professors, James Miley (Willamette University), Dan Cavanagh (the University of Texas), and John Hollenbeck (McGill University) could safely retreat into the cocoons of their respective ivory towers and focus on academic matters exclusively. To our good fortune, all are heavily involved in outside projects, Miley and Cavanagh as in-demand pianists and arrangers and Hollenbeck as the leader of his own cutting-edge ensembles. Pooling their talents, the three have created a terrific album in Another Life, a set distinguished by gripping performances, solid writing, and inspired covers.

It didn't come together in a day or two. Initial recording was undertaken by Cavanagh and Miley at Ford Studios in Salem, Oregon with the two playing hand-crafted Shigeru Kawai SK3 grand pianos at the December 2019 session. They then enhanced the results using electronics and synth textures, albeit subtly and at times subliminally (Miley identifies the sub-bass on three tracks as “a subtly tweaked stock patch from Apple's workhorse ES-1 analog synth plugin”). After they determined the material would benefit from the addition of drums, they shared it with Hollenbeck who, in an impressive act of sleight-of-hand, created tracks that sound as if they were recorded with the pianos. Even then the project wasn't finished, as with the drumming added, Cavanagh and James decided to remove synths from five of the nine tunes. In spite of the involved production process, Another Life could easily pass for a live trio set.

Hollenbeck's playing on six pieces is integral to the album, yet ultimately it's the four-handed attack of the pianists that's the projects's major calling-card. Their playing dazzles, and as impressive is the fact that the two do so without stepping all over each other. A delicate balance is needed for a project of this kind, and, in fact, they complement one another so well, it's often hard to tell who's playing what. It's a solid outing from start to finish, but certain pieces stand out, the two covers certainly and some of the originals too. While “All the Things in Their Right Places,” which deftly merges Radiohead's “Everything In Its Right Place” and Jerome Kern's “All the Things You Are,” and the sultry treatment of Lorde's “Royals” are fabulous, Miley's "The Dawn Wall” and Cavanagh's “Kapo'i” show the pianists are no slouches in the writing department.

The ominous melody of “Everything In Its Right Place” makes for a haunting lead-in, though as memorable are the smooth segues the pianists effect between Kern's song and Radiohead's, not to mention their virtuosic playing on this bluesy, pianos-only performance. Following “All the Things in Their Right Places,” “The Dawn Wall” registers as strongly for its twinkly theme—as potent as an earworm gets—and cool piano-and-synths doubling. A bit of R&B swing seeps into the set via the alternately jazzy and funky “Kapo'i,” after which “Stealing Amsterdam” reveals the musicians' appetite for swooning balladry. Needless to say, Hollenbeck's always tight kit artistry affords ample listening pleasure whenever it appears. Check out his execution of the tricky groove somersaulting through Cavanagh's “Wernerism,” for instance, as well as the funky lift he gives “Royals.”

November 2022