| Jazz |
Colin Heshmat: Elastic Groove – A Stylish, Swinging Debut from New York’s Rising Piano Voice
Colin Heshmat’s studio debut, Elastic Groove, released on HMC Records, is a joyous, supple, beautifully balanced quartet record: eight original compositions, three well-chosen standards, and a band that plays with the kind of lightness and trust that cannot be rehearsed. It swings, it breathes, it surprises, and it never tries too hard. A very, very good album, and a well-deserved Great on Paris-Move.
Colin Heshmat is a pianist formed by the tradition, and at home in New York. He grew up in Springfield, Illinois, and studied engineering and music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before choosing music for good. He moved to New York in 2019 and has since become part of the city’s scene: regular gigs at the Knickerbocker Bar and Grill in Greenwich Village, a weekly Wednesday-night residency at the NH Collection Hotel in Midtown, and appearances at the temples of the music, Minton’s Playhouse, Smalls, Mezzrow and Fat Cat, as well as in Chicago (Andy’s Club, the Green Mill), Minneapolis (Jazz Central) and Atlanta (the Velvet Note). Along the way he has shared the stage with Winard Harper, Bobby Broom, Pharez Whitted and the late Roy Hargrove, and studied with Barry Harris, Fred Hersch and Donald Vega.
The names he cites as influences read like a primer of the piano: Horace Silver, Sonny Clark, Wynton Kelly, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell. You hear that lineage in the clarity of his lines, the blues in his phrasing, the hard-bop swing in his left hand and, now and then, in a percussive burst that recalls McCoy Tyner. But what is striking is that he does not sound like any of them. He has already found a voice of his own: crisp but relaxed, bouncy, never straining to impress, and capable of turning sharp and forceful when the music asks for it.
For this album, Heshmat is joined by three musicians who understand exactly what a band is for. Ryo Sasaki plays trumpet with a warm, breathy tone that opens the melodies rather than blasting them, and his solos have both lyricism and bite. Yuma Takagi’s bass is round, woody and melodic, and he steps into the light more than once with solos that sing. Ben Cliness, on drums, drives the music with a crisp, springy touch and takes concise, colourful solos in which nothing is wasted. The four play post-bop with a straight-ahead spirit and a youthful, contemporary groove: they know the tradition well, and they want it to sound like today.
The title says it all. An elastic groove is one that can stretch and snap back, that gives and takes, and that is exactly what this quartet does, from the first bars to the last. The eight originals are inspired by life in New York, and they unfold like a series of snapshots.
“Sea Breeze” (6:38) opens the album at a relaxed, medium tempo over a laid-back Latin-tinged groove. Sasaki’s tone is mellow and unforced, Heshmat’s solo has a hint of Horace Silver, and Takagi’s bass sings before the trumpet returns to close the tune. It is a perfect invitation: easy, open, and already full of character. “Corner Spot” (3:44), a boppish blues, is an homage to the delis of New York. It is short, bright and playful, played in trio, and it is here that you first hear the pianist’s more percussive side, with a touch of McCoy Tyner.
“Elastic Groove” (5:11), the title track, is an energetic jazz waltz dedicated to his wife, Olivia, and to the joys and challenges of life as a couple. The right hand hammers single notes against relaxed left-hand chords, the bass takes a fast and fiery turn, and the band settles into a hard-bop theme at the end: a love song with plenty of muscle. “Centre Street Theme I” (5:31) and “Centre Street Theme II” (6:04) are the most amusing and the most striking pair of the record, because they were born from a stint of jury duty. The first is intense and harmonically advanced, with the pianist digging into the low register, the trumpet pushing harder and the tempo racing as fast as it can without losing control; you can almost hear the frustration of a long day in a courthouse. The second releases the tension: lyrical, thoughtful, with piano lines that sound almost hummed and trumpet notes that glide into one another.
“Ember” (4:18) has a tongue-twisting melody and plenty of fire. Sasaki spits out clipped triplets, Heshmat throws them straight back on the piano, Takagi picks up the pattern on bass, and the quartet has fun with a conversation in which everyone speaks the same quick language. Cliness has the last word, with a short drum solo that is a model of economy. “Morning in Midtown” (4:23) is in five-four time, slow and quietly joyful. Warm solos from trumpet and piano give it a feeling of walking through the city before the day gets going, and the unusual metre is so natural that you almost do not notice it. “Systems” (5:41) is the most intriguing composition. It begins by imitating a machine, then evolves into a modal piece with a subtle but insistent rhythm that comes back with force at several points. It shows that Heshmat is a composer with ideas and a sense of form, and not only a pianist who writes good tunes.
It takes courage to record familiar tunes on a debut album, and Heshmat does it in the best way: by finding something new in them. “Just Friends” (4:10) is given a modern touch, taken a little faster than usual, with the pianist syncopating the well-known melody until it swings in a different direction, while the trumpet stays closer to the tune we all know. “Blue Bossa” (6:03) is the clever move: Kenny Dorham’s piece was written for trumpet, and here it is played in trio, with the piano carrying the horn line alone, assured and unhurried, before Takagi steps forward for a lyrical solo. And “Cantaloupe Island” (7:01) ends the album in great style: Herbie Hancock’s funky classic, with Sasaki, Heshmat and Takagi all taking blazing solos, the whole band loose and swinging, and a Blue Note groove that makes you want to start the record again.
What holds Elastic Groove together is a rare quality: lightness with substance. In a world where many post-bop albums follow the same well-worn paths, this quartet takes them with freshness, confidence and a sense of humour, and it never pushes. The tunes are memorable, the solos are tasteful, the interplay is a pleasure, and the whole record, almost an hour of music, flows with a natural ease. It is the work of an inspired bandleader, a gifted composer and a creative improviser, and a big step forward for a pianist who, after only a few years in New York, already sounds very much like himself. If you love classic acoustic jazz played with youthful energy, or if you simply want to hear a talented new voice take his place on the New York scene, put this one on. It is a debut that makes you look forward to the next one.
Frankie Pfeiffer
Editor in chief – PARIS-MOVE
PARIS-MOVE, October 21st, 2026
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Tracklisting:
- Sea Breeze (Colin Heshmat) 6:38
- Corner Spot (Colin Heshmat) 3:44
- Elastic Groove (Colin Heshmat) 5:11
- Centre Street Theme I (Colin Heshmat) 5:31
- Centre Street Theme II (Colin Heshmat) 6:04
- Ember (Colin Heshmat) 4:18
- Morning in Midtown (Colin Heshmat) 4:23
- Just Friends (John Klenner & Sam Lewis) 4:10
- Blue Bossa (Kenny Dorham) 6:03
- Systems (Colin Heshmat) 5:41
- Cantaloupe Island (Herbie Hancock) 7:01
Musicians:
Colin Heshmat – Piano
Ryo Sasaki – Trumpet
Yuma Takagi – Bass
Ben Cliness – Drums