NO WOLF AT THE DOOR:

James Francies appeared humbled and startled to see a full house for his gig at New York's Jazz Standard. It was a chilly Friday evening in early November, and it was pouring outside. "Wow. I'm glad y'all came out in all of this rain," he said, after introducing members of his band. "If I didn't have to be here, I would be at home watching Law and Order or something."

The audience had reason to brave the elements. Not only is the 23-year-old Francies one of the most talked-about pianists in jazz today, but the concert was celebrating the release of his auspicious Blue Note debut, Flight. Hailing from Houston and having attended the city's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts--alma mater to such jazz luminaries as Jason Moran and Robert Glasper--Francies has quickly risen to the high ranks of his generation. He's already played with Pat Metheny, Jeff "Tain" Watts, and Stefon Harris, as well as hip-hop royalty like the Roots, Common, and Nas. [...]

The concert continued with rapturous renditions of Francies' tugging, waltz-like "Sway" and the rhythmically intrepid "Reciprocal." In between those two, Francies delivered a picturesque synth-piano interlude that sounded as if it could have been lifted from Sun Ra's songbook.

Hekselman had only played with Francies a few times prior to the Jazz Standard engagement and, as he described after the first set, "I had to spend a lot of time trying to understand his rhythmic world, specifically with all the odd meters. But it was a nice challenge because there is substance to his music. He also has a rich harmonic world that comes out of gospel music and a lot of modern jazz. I definitely plan on looking back at some of those charts to better understand how the harmonies connect with one another. His music has a lot of pretty movements inside."

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