Live at Maybeck Recital Hall;

Pianist Jaki Byard has an unerringly firm knowledge of virtually all jazz piano traditions, from the snappiest boogie woogie to the most thundering free jazz. In this solo recital as part of the Concord Records Maybeck Recital Hall series, Byard veers towards the bebop and pre-bop areas, delving into the kind of tweaked angularity that marked the music of Thelonious Monk, one of Byard's contemporaries. He also delights in a one-handed cascade across the piano keys, and then he firmly trots across the keys with gusts of force. Byard is a rare treat, a true encyclopedia of jazz-what's more, on this CD, he reaches a career peak and sound brilliantly poised for many more years of omni-jazz excellence. --Andrew Bartlett