ROBI BOTOS plays the Rex on July 28. See listing Rating: NNNN
Named best jazz artist in 2007 by NOW, Robi Botos has seemingly played on everyone else’s records over the last decade, while racking up domestic and international awards and winning the 2004 Montreux Jazz Festival solo piano competition. He’s been hesitant to take the spotlight in the studio, reasoning that the timing needed to be right. Long touted as the heir to Oscar Peterson’s Canadian jazz pianist throne, Botos might finally be ready for the succession now that this overdue debut album is in the can.
Flanked by his brother Frank on drums and bassist Attila Darvas, Botos loads this 14-song slab with standards like What Is This Thing Called Love and Wayne Shorter’s classic Footprints, as well as original joints like Emmanuel, a tribute to his late mentor, Dr. Peterson. The Hungarian-born local also dips into his heritage on First Love, which has traces of Gypsy clarinet, and there’s a jazz fusion tune, the title track, that he first began tinkering with when he was 13, which tells you just how long this album’s been percolating.
Top track: Emmanuel
