Aaron Parks is a young pianistcomposer who has very gradually grown in stature since his teenage years in Terence Blanchard's band in which he served an auspicious five-year apprenticeship. He has since played regularly with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel as well as alongside Joshua Redman in the collective James Farm among other gigs. He recorded his debut Invisible Cinema for Blue Note in 2008 with a signature sound that departed from the mostly post-bop jazz of his sideman roles. It drew from the kind of easy-on-the-ear Brad Mehldau-ish school of genreblurring piano ensemble jazz and sounded up-to-the-minute as well as inventive. This new solo piano recording demonstrates another side to Parks’ work. It's a series of improvisations evolving from a bare minimum of composed material. Throughout the recording session, Parks borrows from Bartok's early twentieth century reinterpretations of Hungarian folksong as well as the harmonic and melancholic ambience of French impressionism via Satie and Debussy. As on his Blue Note debut but to a lesser extent, there are signs of an influence from aspects of singer-songwriter rock and Americana. While Ran Blake, Herbie Hancock and Paul Bley are cited among Park's influences and of course Keith Jarrett, the inevitable touchstone for the ECM solo piano improv recital, the heat he generates here is seldom of a rhythmic nature. While that could be frustrating to those who have enjoyed Parks’ playing in ensemble situations, the pianist's stealthy, artful exploration of theme, his beautifully nuanced touch and ability to evoke a low-lights intimacy and sense of shadowy mystery out of the art of solo piano has only to be admired.