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The pianist Simona Premazzi’s musical personality is a strong but unfixed thing. She starts “Later Ago” — one of eight original compositions on her fourth album, “Outspoken” — supporting Dayna Stephens’s tenor saxophone, as he traces a drifting and soothing melody. She paints around him, maintaining intimate contact and swathing his sound in limpid harmonies. Ms. Premazzi and Mr. Stephens fall away. There’s a rustling in the grass. Soon the bassist Joe Martin and the drummer Nasheet Waits are tumbling forth with a pulpy swing feel. Ms. Premazzi joins Mr. Stephens again for a much boppier melody, then she takes the tune’s sideways chord changes for a spin. At once deft and slurry, jocular and nonchalant, her playing is a jargon-free mix of influences: Jason Moran, Thelonious Monk and Chick Corea all slip briefly into view, then are chased away. At 42, Ms. Premazzi’s star is on the rise, as all of “Outspoken” attests.” - NYT - Giovanni Russonello
