Baldwin artist Orrin Evans' new CD, Meant to Shine, his first on the Palmetto label, is not the kind of music you'd play for relaxation, although at first it might seem that way.

Most of the tunes start with a soprano sax stating a simple, lyrical melody - not necessarily hummable in the Tin Pan Alley tradition, but nice nevertheless. That's your first clue that Evans is not your average group leader. He's the pianist - not the sax player (or players in this case - Sam Newsome and Ralph Bowe). Although the sax is playing the lead line, it is Evans' piano underneath the melody that really leads the piece, adding darker colorations and an element of tension to even the most lilting of melodies.

When Evans does emerge for a solo, it's seldom what you expect. It's likely to be a continuation and amplification of the dissonant chordal "comping" style that he uses in support of his saxmen, rather than a transformation into a conventional solo style, with single notes from the right hand, chords from his left - although he offers up enough of the conventional to let you know he can hold his own among "hard bop" pianists.

One reviewer calls Evans' style "free bop." Evans himself has called it "structured confusion." Another reviewer just sums it up as "hard," and that gets closer to it. It's defiant but not angry. It shows knowledge and respect for the traditions it breaks. "Elevation," for example, has definite Latin overtones, in the beat as well as in the flute melody. But Evans and his rhythm section - Gene Jackson on drums and Eric Revis on bass - break it up sufficiently to ensure that no listener will be moved to bust off a few samba steps. It's one of the most engaging pieces on the record (maybe that's the reason Evans made it one of the shortest, at 3:45, leaving the listener wanting more).

It's easy to describe Evans' music as an approach or an attitude, but it really is a fully developed style that works in a variety of moods and settings, from the reverie-like intro to "Dawn Marie" to the frenetic interplay between piano and drums in "Don't Write No Shit About Me."

The album title, Meant to Shine, is taken from a piece of writing by Nelson Mandela, one line of which says: "Your playing small does not serve the world." It's a message that inspires integrity and conviction, and Orrin Evans has clearly taken it to heart.