Diversity

Jazz has its fair share of child prodigies. Yet few are taken under the wing of a master producer like Quincy Jones, who oversaw this album. Age 11 at the time of this release, pianist Emily Bear had already recorded a handful of albums before making her Concord debut. This set offers 13 varied originals written over the last seven (!) years—she’s already won awards for her compositions and written orchestral arrangements. Diversity finds her backed by bassist Carlitos Del Puerto and drummer Francisco Mela, as well as guest cellist Zuill Bailey. The relatively short songs all sit firmly in the vein of straight-ahead jazz, with flourishes of classical (“Northern Lights,” “Paralada”), Latin jazz (“Hot Peppers,” “Salsa Americana”), and blues (“Blue Note”) helping the album live up to its title. Bear’s keyboard chops aren’t as flashy as some prodigies, and the album’s overall tempo is slow to middling. But that just lets listeners soak up the compositions themselves without opaque window dressing. Without a doubt, this marks an early bright spot in the crop of millennials coming into jazz.