Marsalis pianist Calderazzo to make a welcome return

One good turn deserves another. So, less than a month after he was in town with the Branford Marsalis Quartet, pianist Joey Calderazzo is back on Saturday at the helm of his own trio.

Calderazzo, appearing this time at the Blue Room, has spent 12 years in the Marsalis quartet and has been associated with the saxophonist for upward of 20 years. But, as he’ll prove Saturday, he’s no mere sideman.

A native New Yorker, he’s one of those “young lions” who emerged in the 1980s. A lot of people first heard him with tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker about 1987. By 1990 he had a deal with Blue Note Records and was recording with some other good tenors, Marsalis and Jerry Bergonzi.

Now he’s 45, and unlike so many of those young lions, Calderazzo hasn’t faded away. Recorded evidence suggests that his playing keeps getting better and better — there’s more subtlety, more space and more sophistication in his music now, but it sounds direct and open. He excels at making his artistry look easy.

He’s reportedly touring with a trio that features bassist Orlando le Fleming, a former sideman with Marsalis and David Sanchez, and Adam Cruz, drummer of choice for Chick Corea and Danilo Perez, whose work in Perez’s trio at the Blue Room some years back remains a pleasurable memory.