Life's Backward Glances

In the ‘70s, Steve Kuhn recorded a number of albums for ECM, including the three that make up the reissue, *Life’s Backward Glances*. Here the spotlight is on the pianist’s original compositions. On one of the albums, *Motility*, Kuhn leads a quartet that includes saxophonist Steve Slagle, bassist Harvie Swartz, and drummer Michael Smith. Kuhn’s playing can be intense, but the album has a light sound overall, thanks in part to Swartz’s light, melodic touch on soprano, alto, and flute. *Playground* features a set of Kuhn’s vocal pieces. Swartz, once again, is on bass, Bob Moses plays drums, and vocalist Sheila Jordan brings her unusual touch to the songs. (Jordan and Kuhn co-led a band for a while in the ‘70s.) *Ecstasy*, which was recorded in 1974, finds Kuhn alone at the keyboard, his playing by turns high-energy and lyrical. There is some overlapping of material on the three albums, and it’s interesting to compare, say, the airy instrumental version of “Deep Tango” on *Motility* with the mysterious vocal take on *Playground*.