Music: Jazz Pianist Eldar with Trio in Concert

">Eldar, a teen pianist, performed at Atlanta's Spivey Hall last night.

Eldar was wonderful. His hands were a blur on the showy stuff, but the highlights for me were two ballads: "'Round Midnight" played with a light touch, and a sweet take on "You Don't Know What Love Is." I enjoyed as well a couple of original pieces that would build to a nearly-chaotic trio free-for-all and suddenly drop to sprinkling of notes in unison -- when the drummer Todd Strait softly accented each piano note with a different sound made with brushes and cymbals, as if the bell-like sounds were built into the piano. The encore was a solo so virtuosic that everyone laughed: Eldar hid all the familiar riffs from "Take the A Train" like bright graffitti in a shimmering wall of notes.

Originally from Kyrgyztan, he seemed thoroughly Americanized. In blue jeans and casual shirt, he made me feel overdressed. But when he bowed, he had one hand on his heart, European-style.

Music: Jazz Pianist Eldar with Trio in Concert | Music