Paul Hecht - Pyrography (2025)

PYROGRAPHY is a gem. It honors tradition while creating its own language—much like Hecht himself: scholar, musician, poet, and improviser, all rolled into one.

Jazz has always been a conversation, a dance between structure and spontaneity, and Paul Hecht’s PYROGRAPHY is a fascinating example of how those elements interact. Hecht, a pianist and composer with a background that spans jazz, classical music, poetry, and theater, approaches improvisation with the same care that a poet brings to verse. His compositions reveal a mind equally comfortable with structured complexity and carefree exploration.

The title PYROGRAPHY refers to the art of burning designs into wood—a fitting metaphor for Hecht’s writing style. He sees jazz as transient, shaped by the air, the room, and the people in it, yet he’s anxious to compose within this fleeting medium. The album’s compositions reflect that tension, balancing meticulous craftsmanship with unpredictable energy.

Hecht’s background in 16th-century English poetry seems to shape his phrasing, much like the rhythmic cadence of iambic pentameter influenced Shakespeare’s lines. Just listen to the bass’s (da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM) in the album’s opener, ‘He Made Up His Mind.’ Hecht walks a fine line between complexity and directness, with modern jazz harmonies nudging Brazilian rhythms and touches of progressive rock.

The band on PYROGRAPHY is tight yet fluid, shifting easily between structure and freedom. Hecht’s trio—drummer Gustavo Cortiñas, bassist Ben Dillinger, and, on four tracks, trumpeter James Davis—this feels like a real conversation—it’s fluid, responsive, and alive. Cortiñas doesn’t just keep time; he nudges, responds, and pushes the music forward without ever overpowering it. Dillinger’s bass anchors the groove, moving easily with Hecht’s unpredictable turns. James Davis has a trumpet tone that’s both raw and warm, with a bit of grit that gives it an edge. He’s got character that mixes well with his melodic sense of lyricism.

‘Waltz For Franny” opens with lovely, laid-back piano very much in the jazz tradition, and Cortiñas’s brushwork is sublime. But at one point, the rhythm section seems to take over the melody, while the piano wrestles with the time, twisting, distorting it.

‘Frankie’s Place,’ a tribute to saxophonist Mark Turner, features Davis’s trumpet, rich and intimate in tone. Hecht, a melodic pianist, can play lines that easily weave through the rhythm section like a thread tying everything together. Dillinger’s bass tone is warm, full, and his playing is always in sync with the rest of the group.

The album’s title track, ‘Pyrography,’ is one of its most striking pieces. Inspired by an “apocalyptic” chord from a Prokofiev violin sonata, the composition unfolds in waves of improvisation, evoking the image of flames erupting from an industrial landscape. Hecht’s years spent passing the steel mills of Gary, Indiana, seem to have left their mark, giving the track a raw, burning intensity.

The ‘Dasha Intro’ is the only composition not written by Hecht, as it’s a piece by Robert Schumann. Inspired by the playful energy of a kitten, ‘Dasha’ is buoyant, lively. Davis’s trumpet fits perfectly with the impish melody, while Hecht effortlessly balances emotional depth with a sense of joy and swing.

Writing about 16th-century English poetry while also playing improvisational jazz is a pretty fascinating blend. Hecht is a mix of T.S. Eliot and Thelonious Monk—one side deeply analytical and literary, the other side free-flowing and intuitive. Eliot dissected language and history, while Monk deconstructed musical structures, only to rebuild them in unpredictable ways.

For those who love jazz that challenges without alienating, PYROGRAPHY is a gem. It honors tradition while creating its own language—much like Hecht himself: scholar, musician, poet, and improviser, all rolled into one.~by Tim Larsen

Paul Hecht – Piano; Ben Dillinger – Bass; Gustavo Cortiñas – Drums; James Davis – Trumpet