TOBIN MUELLER, Fragments

Listening to veteran interpretive pianist/multi-keyboardist Tobin Mueller’s revolutionary in concept, endlessly fascinating and stylistically eclectic/genre transcendent in execution album Fragments brings to mind a moment where I casually played Julie Andrews’ version of “My Favorite Things” for a European friend who never saw The Sound of Music but was long enamored of John Coltrane’s classic version.

Sometimes in the realm of jazz, a song serves as a springboard for improvisational flights of fancy and re-imaginings that take the piece to expansive creative levels even the composer could not have fathomed. Those kinds of colorful  blasts of freewheeling invention and dazzling rhythmic, melodic and improvisational energy happen nonstop in the sonic world the storied, critically acclaimed Mueller creates here.

His dynamic rule busting twist on the usual jazz approach (state the melody, then improvise) finds him using mere portions of mostly familiar pop, jazz and blues tunes - from “Imagine” and “The Long and Winding Road” to Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets,” Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” and “Over the Rainbow” - as inspirational foundation fueling him, his vast arsenal of keyboards and an ensemble of 12 powerhouse musical cohorts to go wild.

The titles of Mueller’s versions cleverly draw from the song’s lyrics, i.e. “Electric Boots” (from “Bennie…”). “Dreamer” (from “Imagine”) and “Always Thought I’d See You Again” (from James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain”). A trademark example of Mueller’s aesthetic of re-invention is the way he refashions Simon & Garfunkel’s “America” into the “They’ve All Come To Look For America,” which begins with celestial synth vocalizing and atmospheres before evolving into a festive piano and vibe driven Latin-pop fusion romp that also includes moody, hypnotic passages, includes electronic vocalizing throughout and even quotes a bit from “Cecilia.”

A listener could seriously get so lost in the intricate magic of this production that they might forget there are 11 other equally winsome gems. Interestingly, Mueller leaves the titles of two of his pieces here. Chuck Mangione’s “Feels So Good” and “Tobacco Road” in place, even while richly expanding their sonic palette. His reasoning for sticking closer to the melody of Mangione’s original is simple: he didn’t have the heart to take a mere fragment. His boisterous. Brassy, Latin blues twist is the perfect entry point into the Fragments experience, so much so that Mueller includes a single version and radio edit.

A true rock blues barnburner, “Tobacco Road” isn’t quite radio friendly, but it’s an epic mindblower, buoyed on the wings of Niels van der Steenhoven and Amit Erez’s fiery electric guitars. If you like musical adventure, Fragments is a recording unlike any you’ve likely heard before. It’s one of dozens of recordings listed on the highly prolific Mueller’s website, so by all means, visit and check out even more of his breathtaking artistry.