For today's post, we are going to be featuring the Toronto based, Robi Botos Trio. This group, led of course by Botos, also includes his brother Frank on the drums, and Attila Darvas on the bass. Born into a musical family, Botos began his musical career as a child growing up in Hungry, self-teaching himself both the drums and the piano, which he soon mastered. Since moving to Toronto in 1998, this pianist has won numerous international awards such as the 2004 first prize and public prize at the International Montreux Jazz Festival's solo piano competition, and the 2007 Now Magazine award for best jazz artist; just to name a few. He has also made his mark on the Canadian jazz seen, frequently collaborating with legendary bassist Dave Young, and being a member of the acclaimed fusion group rinsethealgorithm. Despite numerous appearances as sideman and leader, "Place To Place" is Botos' first album with this trio. The record includes mostly Botos originals, however a few covers as well. The first song we're going to note is Botos' arrangement of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints". Botos adds his own uniqueness to the song, slowly building it up with band, as his improv moves the piece forward towards climax. In our opinion, this solo gives Botos something to brag about, putting him in the same musical realm as other modern piano virtuosos, like Geoffrey Keezer and Brad Mehldau. The next song we're going to note is "Smedley's Attack". This Botos original allows the listener to make out some of this pianist's diverse influences, such as Oscar Peterson and Thelonious Munk. The song also features both bass and drum solos, allowing Botos' sidemen to make their mark on the album as well. To conclude, this was a fantastic album, and a great first effort by Botos. Now that the album has made headway, we look forward to seeing Botos perform during the 2012 summer jazz season.
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