By Michael J. West | Published July 2025
Embedded in a trio with Christian McBride and Jack DeJohnette, Ivan Farmakovskiy would get credit merely for keeping his head above water. The Muscovite pianist does a hell of a lot more than that.
Recorded in 2010, Epic Power (his sophomore recording) offers up Farmakovskiy’s abilities as both pianist and composer: He wrote seven of the album’s eight tunes and arranged its one cover, a sexy rendition of Lennon & McCartney’s “And I Love Her.” The pianist maintains a hard-bop vibe throughout; between the vibe and the company he keeps, hard-driving swing is a must, and Farmakovskiy delivers. The opening “Soul Inside Out” is ablaze from the start, and he runs away with that fire in his solo. “Professor” gives him a funky (in the Horace Silver sense) workout that makes room for a bluesy, groovy solo. But mid-uptempo is more the pianist’s speed. “Conciliation,” a lithe, pretty waltz based on “The Lady Is A Tramp,” inspires perhaps his best improvisational work: Greased-keyboard chops yield a rhythmically inventive line whose melodic phrases turn in on themselves in brilliant curlicues and trotting syncopations.
But it’s not all about Farmakovskiy. He’s a highly interactive leader, letting DeJohnette, in particular, shape his solos on “The Day Before” and “Orange” at least as much as he shapes their comps. His lightning runs on the former seem directly in response to DeJohnette’s fluttering brushwork, with the two conversing on the latter. Although there’s less direct engagement with McBride (whose arco solo on “And I Love Her” is an album highlight), their empathy is crystal clear. What a splendid trio, and record, this is.
