*** John Lewis

EVOLUTION II

(Atlantic)

When John Lewis plays piano, the blues wears a tux. An accomplished composer and performer who spent decades as the driving force of the elegantly swinging Modern Jazz Quartet, Lewis has also worked with every important bop figure over the years. This is the second installment of a planned three-part series (Evolution I, a solo recording, was issued in 1999), but in truth it’s simply more of John Lewis, who’s nimbly displayed a deep blue soul in combination with cerebral classical tendencies for more than 50 years. He’s outlasted the monikers like “chamber jazz” or “third stream” music that were once assigned to his innovations, and he’s left listeners who like more fire in their pianists in respectful awe of his control and his vision. Joined by polished accompanists including Lewis Nash on drums and George Mraz on bass, Lewis takes all the solo space. His encyclopedic knowledge and understated improvisational muse shine on “Afternoon in Paris,” a sort of tour de gentleness that moves from meditative introduction to nger-snapping blues walk to military march before concluding with a neo-classical ourish. Lewis plays standards he wrote (“Django”), a few others (“Parker’s Mood”), and new compositions on this, his umpteenth graceful session.

— Bill Kisliuk