Poetry Inspires Music :The Jamie Baum Septet+ "What Times Are These"

The Jamie Baum Septet +  What Times Are These -Sunnyside Records

It is hard to imagine that the flutist/composer/arranger Jamie Baum has been playing and composing for her midsized Septet and later expanded Septet+ since 1999. That is twenty-five years of top-tier level composing, arranging, and playing an array of adventurous, thoroughly modern, chamber-inspired jazz. Much of the music recorded has been lauded by the press and the public and some of it has won well-deserved awards.  Despite the success, over the years, the group has been forced to evolve. Sometimes, after working together for years, the magic is lost or the personnel just needs a change. The musicians may relocate. They may face commanding health issues that ebb their ability to commit. They may experience personal success in their own career trajectories that demand more attention. Or artistically, they may need to part ways with the leader and expand in another direction to maintain their own creativity. That's why so few ensembles or orchestras can sustain themselves over long periods without some level of personnel turnover.  So how does Baum manage to revitalize her groups, add new players with new gifts, and keep the music vital over a quarter of a century? The key to continued creative success that attracts talent comes from the leader's vision and her proven ability to realize that vision in tangible aurally dazzling creations. Over the years those visions were realized by her Septet + in projects like Moving Forward/Standing Still, Solace, Bridges, and now her latest What Times Are These which was released this past March of 2024.

I was first hooked on Jamie Baum's jazz/chamber concept in 2009, when I heard her brilliant album Solace, and got to experience the music in person at a show at New York City's respected venue Joe's Pub. Since then I have followed this composer as her music has continued to grow with sophistication, heroism, and creativity. Through the years the personnel have changed, but the musicians have always been some of the most progressive and talented available. This new release What Times Are These, on Sunnyside Records, got its genesis during the Covid shutdown period in 2020. As all activities came to an unexplainable halt, Baum realized the Covid-inspired isolation could be economically disastrous for an artist. She also realized that the downtime needed to be used to inspire creativity in her quest for a new musical project. During this time she discovered Bill Moyers' website "A Poet A Day" where he introduced poets to his readers as a way to  expose them to"...a measure of joy, reflection, and meditation brought on by “the best words in the best order.” It eventually became a source of inspiration to this composer.

What Times Are These, is Baum's musical answer to how the spoken word can be a powerful expression of ideas, especially when reinforced by complementary music. Baum deftly interwove the ideas -the essence of the poetic messages- with her carefully crafted musical interpretations that these themes inspired within her. She uses seven poems from five different poets to tell their poignant stories. In some respect, it is a critical evaluation of where we have come as a society and asks the question What Times Are These? 

The poems and the related songs remind us of the value of being "of use", in service, of remembering what we once took for granted, what always was and was now almost lost. They remind us of how on the way we have somehow lost our sense of "us" and "them" and become more obsessed about ourselves. The words take note of sorrow and disappointment about some of our collective actions and callused attitudes. Other words offer a remembrance of the loss of a loved one. Only to be transcended by acknowledging the celestial connection with the stars above us and the continuity they represent to all of us. The poems fight off depression over the realization that we are still in a world that is driven by prejudices based on age, ethnicity, gender, class, and color.

To create the music for these poems, Baum enlisted her latest Septet 6+ members in addition to several important guest artists. This version of the Septet+ includes Baum on flutes and spoken word (song 2); Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet and voice (song3); Sam Sadigursky on alto sax, clarinet, and bass clarinet; Chris Komer on French Horn; Brad Shepik on guitar and singing bowls; Luis Perdomo on piano and Fender Rhodes; Rickey Rodriguez on bass and electric bass; and  Jeff Hirshfeild on drums.    

Luis Perdomo, Jonathan Finlayson, Ricky Rodriguez, Sam Sadigursky, Jeff Herschfield, Chris Koner, Brad Shepik (Photo credit unknown)

To increase her aural palette the composer enlisted the talented percussionist Keita Ogawa to three songs(1,3 & 10). Baum employs the disparate instruments of five imaginative vocalists Sara Serpa (5,7 & 8), Aubrey Johnson (3,6 & 9); KOKAYI (6), and Theo Bleckmann (4). Baum proves herself to be a master of composing music that explores the sounds and textures of possibilities whether they come from instruments, percussive objects, or voices. The resulting music from Baum is a tour de force.

Theo Bleckmann 

Aubrey Johnson

Keita Ogawa (photo credit unknown)

KOKAYI

Sars Serpa

(Photo credits unknown)

The album includes ten complex, yet captivating compositions from Baum. There is the opener "In The Light of Day" which utilizes an ostinato piano line by Perdomo, and creative stacked ringing, metallic percussion by Ogawa at the opening. A majestic French horn by Komer opens up the music to beautifully executed and precise ensemble playing. Some beguiling alto flute by Baum with some facile interplay with Finlayson on trumpet and some powerful drum and bass work by Hershfeld and Rodriguez create a powerful opening statement.

Baum's breathy flute and Perdomo's cascading piano frame the word-spoken lines by the artist of the Marge Piercy poem "To Be of Use." The music expands over the repeating piano lines with Shepik's probing guitar, Sadigursky's tubular clarinet, and the cadenced drum work by Hershfield. There is a regimental feel to the music that bespeaks the idea of "being in use." Shepik's electric guitar takes flight, soaring with passion as the ensemble creates a beautiful, synchronous tonal background on which to build.

Tracy K. Smith's "An Old Story" opens with a vibrant electric bass entre by Rodriguez. There is a funky groove to this one, as it sets up the spoken word by trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, who also offers a vibrant trumpet solo. Some fusion-like Rhodes work by Perdomo, and synchronous sinewy vocal lines by Aubrey Johnson are matched by flute and other ensemble members. Her voice elastically melts into the funky ensemble work like another tuned instrument. 

Adrienne Rich's "In Those Years," a tome about the 'me' generation, features Theo Blekmann's ethereal voice. First, he is heard on an overdubbed choir-like opening and then he vocalizes the words of the poem followed in tandem with Perdomo's accompanying piano. The music becomes more intense as Baum utilizes repeating ensemble sections and cascading ascending and descending lines that give Bleckmann backgrounds on which to perform his darting, pointillistic vocalizations. His work leads to an apex after which Sadigursky's alto saxophone searches plaintively and gives the piece some loose freedom. Perdomo's piano takes over, brilliantly dancing with elan, spurred on by Rodriguez's throbbing bass and Hirshfield's syncopated drum work. Bleckmann returns, angelically vocalizing the  final words of the poem, reprising an overdubbed choir-like hum at the coda.

Another poem by Rich, "What Kind of Times," finds the endearing soprano of Portuguese vocal stylist Sara Serpa. An angular and soulful guitar solo by Brad Shepik is another highlight. The music traces the words in modulating lines accenting certain words and drolling others giving it a sing-song-like treatment.

Lucille Clifton's "Sorrow Song" is given a modern hip/hop treatment opening with a complimentary rap written and sung by KOKAYI. Baum enters after the voice with a breathy, Rahsaan Kirk-inspired flute solo that smolders. Rodriguez's bass rocks. Shepik's guitar is next in line providing piercing, staccato accents. Hirshfield is let loose with some roiling drum work to the coda as KOKAYI's voice returns to finish this one with repeating refrains.

The album follows with a song dedicated to Baum's mom Edie, Naomi Shihab Nye's "My Grandmothers in the Stars " returning with Sara Sherpa's transcendent vocals. There is some distinctive bass clarinet work and a moving alto solo sax by Sadigursky. 

It follows with "I am Wrestling with Despair" based on a poem by Marge Piercy. Baum composes the opening with a guitar and piano alternating repeated lines before the ensemble enters with Serpa's vocal navigating the slippery placement of the words with aplomb. A plaintive trumpet solo by Finlayson is another worthwhile feature.

"Dreams," like the opening "In a Light of Day" and its related reprise the closing   " In the Day of the Light" are all Baum compositions not associated with a poem. "Dreams" opens with Komer's resonant French Horn solos and proceeds to have a call-and-response section between Komer's French horn and Sadigursky's alto sax. The ensemble then adds their own composed section of call and response before Baum offers her own angular alto flute solo. The solo brims with a subtle flow of ideas that hover with resonance. Perdomo is given a chance to be his most lyrical and the music coming from his keyboard is a delight. 

The closer "In the Day of Light" is a bit of a reprise from the opening composition "In A Light Day". The music starts out with Rodriguez's repeating bass line and Perdomo's ostinato piano line. Ogawa's hand drums and percussion come into the fray. The individual; instruments, flute, French horn, bass clarinet, trumpet, drums, and bass all come into the mix each adding their own recurring lines. The music crescendos before it finds a brief plateau where Perdomo's piano and the rhythm section create a small exploration within the composition. The ensemble returns following a cacophony of organized sound before the relentless ostinato  ends abruptly.

Bruno Råberg's- Solo Bass- "Look Inside"

                     Bruno Råberg Solo Bass Look Inside Orbis records

Bruno Råberg is an eminent bassist and, I suspect, a sought-after educator. The Swedish-born musician left his performing career in Europe and came to the United States in 1981 where he attended the New England Conservatory of Music. There he studied with such luminaries as Mirolsav Vitous, Bob Moses, Mick Goodrick, and George Russell. Since 1986, he has been an educator at Berklee where he is presently a professor at the Global Jazz Institute. Over the years this artist has made over thirteen recordings as a leader and been an important collaborator on over thirty other recordings. He has worked with some of modern jazz's most contemporary artists including Tony Malaby, Terri-Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Mintzer, Bobo Stenson, Billy Hart, Ben Monder, and many others.

He released a new album Look Inside on Orbis Records in March of 2023 and it is his first solo bass offering. It's quite a challenge for a bassist to commit to creating such a recording. The artist must be able to communicate musically to the listener without it becoming a pedagogical lesson. He is alone, utilizing his choice of music, his facility and creativity on his instrument, and his imagination to establish that link between the listener and maintaining it into a worthwhile entertaining experience. If this was Råberg's quest then the maestro has certainly succeded.

Råberg's album offers eleven varied compositions ranging from less than two minutes in duration to the longest extending to just over five minutes. The album opens with "Island Pathways" which has the bassist exploring motifs and linking them kinetically through improvisation.

Much of the music gets its impetus from a myriad of inspirations. Two songs, Miles Davis' "Nardis" and Geroge Gershwin's "My Man's Gone." draw life from Råberg's exposure to Bill Evans' Sunday at the Village Vanguard as a youth.

On his dual-themed "Kansala-Nardis," Råberg combines the sounds inspired by the kalimba, a West African instrument, that he mimics on his bass. His affinity for these sounds a genesis from a visit to West Africa in his youth and his experience of having an African percussionist as a roommate for two years while in Stockholm. The artist deftly blends his own lucid interpretation of the Miles Davis classic "Nardis" with these African elements and in the process opens the listener's ears to different musical possibilities.

                            Bruno Råberg (photo by Francesco Gargiulli)

Råberg's diverse interests led him to study South Indian Classical Music and you can hear this influence in his brilliant “Chennai Reminiscence” a five-minute piece that has the virtuoso creating moving, violin-like lines with his bow, an almost tabla-like sound slapping his strings, and a drone-like rhythm that mesmerizes.

The album includes "A Minor Excursion" and "June Poem" two short compositions in the classical style with superb intonation, precise pizzicato technique, and resonance.

"A Space Between" is an emotive arco improvisation based on a film made by the artist's daughter.

Ellington and Strayhorn's "Prelude to a Kiss" loses me a little as the melody seems to be somewhat obscured amongst Råberg's facile presentation.

"Gyrating Spheres" is perhaps the most abstract free improvisation in the set. Råberg utilizes several techniques including bass body percussion, fretboard slapping, rapid pizzicato, and intervallic jumping.

"Ode to Spring" is an aural reflection. It has beauty and contemplation of the thought of nature, the season of Spring. A promise of rebirth.

"Stillness-Epilogue" is another meditation on a state of mind. A rumination of what it is to be still, motionless, and yet still aware and present.

Pianist/Composer Jon Gold Weaves Brazilian and Latin Influences into a Magical Journey with "Guanabara Eyes"

Jon Gold: Guanabara Eyes: Azurea Records

The pianist/composer Jon Gold is a new name to me. A look at his bio reveals a diverse path. Originally from the San Franciso Bay area, Jon had music in his life from an early age. He started piano at age twelve. His brother Jay worked in recording as a GM of Mushroom Records. Jon performed with Palo Alto School District Jazz Band where he met and performed with bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie, and as a studying youth, he performed locally with jazz tenor titan Joe Henderson. Jon's eclectic mind would often inspire multiple interests. One such interest, wine-making, led him to pursue a degree in chemistry at U of C at Santa Cruz. He continued his graduate work ultimately receiving his PhD at Cornell.  After achieving his academic goals, Jon's proficieny on the piano and his love of Latin and Brazilian jazz music, brought his musical career to the forefront. He moved to Rio de Janeiro where he became an educator. The experience allowed Gold to absorb the country's rich musical culture and meet some of Brazil's famed musicians like Jobim and Pascoal. Ultimately returning to the US, he settled in New York within an hour's drive of NYC. Gold got the opportunity to work with some of the country's best jazz talents, and he continued performing and composing in the fields of film, television scoring, and the symphonic orchestra arena.

Jon Gold (photo credit J)

His latest release, Guanabara Eyes, on Azurea Records, is a pure explosion of beauty,  a rendering of his love for Latin and Brazilian music influenced by his classical and jazz background. His writing and orchestration emotes sensitivity and romanticism. On the thirteen songs on this album, Gold employs an array of textures, rhythms, and colors to paint his joyful tapestry of sound. 

The music finds the pianist/composer in close collaboration with Brazilian master drummer and percussionist Mauricio Zottarelli, who co-produces this record and plays on all but one of the songs. The pianist employs a dazzling array of additional Brazilian master musicians. Itaiguara Brandão stalwartly anchors the music on bass. Rodrigo Ursaia's saxophones and flute glimmer throughout. Vocal standout Marina Marchi is heard on three songs, recalling to me a voice reminiscent of a young Flora Purim. Juan Lucangioli lends his own vocal flexibility to two other compositions. In addition to Gold's piano and keyboards, Zottarelli's drums, and Brandão's bass, the orchestrated music skillfully employs voice, guitar, saxophones, horns, cellos, violin, French horn, flute, and an accordion to create a melodically vibrant set of music that is like an aural transport to your own private tropical retreat.

"Guanabara Eyes" is the lush title piece that starts out with Gold's ostinato piano setting the delicate entre. The music repeats with Brandão's buoyant electric bass and Zottarelli's splashing drums create the pace, as the strings mix symbiotically with Marrchi's airborne voice. They create a floating, atmospheric sound that seems to cross a little into the realm of modern chamber music. Gold's piano re-introduces a repeating refrain, introducing  Ursaia's beautiful punctuating flute line carrying the tune along with the voice and strings in support to the fading coda. 

Gold's "Squirrel Samba' is a playful, jaunty dance that has some precise,  complex, and synchronous playing on voice, bass, and flute from Marrchi, Brandão, and Ursaia. Impressive mastery and control in an almost fusion-like approach. Zottarrelli's drum fills are sympathetic and on point. The string section adds another patina to the picture setting the stage for a robust tenor solo by Ursaia. This one has an infectious, joyful vibe.

Some facile fingerwork by guitarist Vladimir Gapotsev accompanies Gold's probing piano lines and Zottarelli's sensitive drum and cymbal work on the folk-inspired "Sumidouro."  

"Ivaniando" is a breezy composition dedicated to Brazilian master composer Ivan Lins. With the haunting combination of Damiano Della Torre's accordion, a Nascimento-inspired vocalese by Juan Lucaniolgi, and some synth additions by Gold, the music has a tropical feel. It embraces the listener like a warm light breeze accentuated by the sounds of strings, cello by Kateryna Mytrofanova and viola by Alexey Zavgorodniy.

The other songs include the drone-driven "Alem do Azul," and the violin-led romp" "Balacobaco."

Gold's probing solo piano exploration and dedication to his other collaborator Luis Riberio titled  "For Luiz." The cinematic "An Old Story 1 & 2," includes sounds of nature (thunder, birds) before changing pace and including the vocal suppleness of the wonderful Marchi.

The pianist's vibing tribute to his drummer co-producer Zottarelli "Theme for MZ," has a Brazilian funk swing to it and features a sax solo by Bryan Murray.

The delicate "Lost Minuet," features Gold's piano, Zottarelli's drums, Brandão's bass, Gaponstsev's guitar work, flute work by Dario Cei, and some English horn work by EmaTLKH.

The joyful "Big Friends"  has a bit of Americana feel to it and employs Grammy-winning violinist Zach Brock as the principal voice to great effect.

"Hymn Noire" is a solemn piano piece, a dirge-like composition.

The bonus track "Heptane", a brief 2:38 min romp, is probably the most raucous and fun of Gold's ditties on the album. Opening with a screaming muted trumpet and driven by the rhythm section of the impressive Zottarelli, bassist Stefano Napoli, and ripping guitarist spot by Fabrice Le Court, the song was implemented by Gold on organ and a Tower of Power type horn section sound created by Will Allen Jr. Wow! That changed the romanticism of the rest of the album.   

                                                                         

                                                                                          

                                                                                         

                                                                                       

                                                                                    

                                                                                 

                                                                            

                                                                       

                                                                    

                                                                   

                                                                   

                                                                   

                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Jim Snidero Continues to Raise His Stature with "For All We Know"

Jin Snidero: For All We Know: Savant SCD 2215

Album by album, the alto saxophonist Jim Snidero has raised his stature as one of the most esteemed alto saxophonists in the world of improvisational music. The Maryland-raised musician's career started when he attended the prestigious Unversity of North Texas College of Music, a school that produced noted alumni like bassist Marc Johnson, keyboard artist Lyle Mays, and multi-reed master Jimmy Giuffre to name just a few. 

The saxophonist became a member of their esteemed One O'Clock Lab Band from 1980-81. Along with his formal education, Snidero found time to take lessons from saxophone masters like Dave Liebman and Phil Woods. Pursuing his career as a professional musician, Snidero, at the age of 23, made his way to NYC in 1981. To hone his skills, he found sideman work in the organ-centered band of noted B3 artist Brother Jack McDuff from 1981-82, and in 1984 recorded with McDuff.  He later joined saxophonist/flutist Frank Wess' group in 1985. As a valued section man, Snidero found work with Toshiko Akiyoshi's Jazz Orchestra (1985, '86,'96, and 2004); Trumpeter Brian Lynch's groups in 1986, 1991, 2019, and 2021); Eddie Palmeri's Band in 1994  Frank Sinatra's touring band in support of Sinatra's album Duets 2 in 1994; and saxophonist Walt Weiskopf's Nonet 1995 and '99 to name just a few. 

Off of the stage, Snidero is an educator as a faculty member at the New School in New York and a visiting professor at Indiana University and Princeton. He has also written a well-respected series of musical instruction books on Bebop, Blues, and Jazz Conceptions. Jim Snidero's alto saxophone sounds like an amalgam of influences that is all his own but has elements of Lee Konitz, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Desmond, and Phil Woods.

Jim Snidero recorded his first album as a leader On Time back in 1984 on the EMI label. He has since released twenty-seven albums as a leader, the last thirteen on Barney Fields' Savant Record label. In February of this year, Snidero released his latest album For All We Know. The album follows three well-received Savant albums that paired Snidero with some jazz elite sidemen. In 2020, Project K  united Snidero with trumpeter Dave Douglas, bassist Linda May Oh, pianist Orrin Evan, and drummer Rudy Royston. Jim Snidero Live at the Deer Head Inn, came out in 2020 and found Jim and progressive pianist Orrin Evans pushing each other to new heights. This time, these two were rhythmically anchored by the team of the superb bassist Peter Washington and stalwart drummer Joe Farnsworth. In his continuing search to spur his own creative boundaries, Snidero's last album Far Far Away, matched the altoist with a different foil.  Retaining the intuitive rhythm section of the last album, he matched musical wits with the enigmatic guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel to great effect.

Released in February of this year, For All We Know breaks the mold. On the never-ending quest to improve one's creative advancement, some things stay the same and some things inevitably change. Snidero's quest led him to accept the next step in his development as a player. He would play without a net. He would wisely reprise his intuitive rhythm section of Washington and Farnsworth, but he would for the first time make an album where his alto was the sole melodic instrument. Where the structure of the melody wasn't safely maintained by the presence of a chordal instrument. The album has a selection of eight exceptionally savvy standards. Familiar melodies that allow his audience to connect. Songs that are rendered in an enticing, soulful,  and communicative way. As an artist, Snidero's alto has a beautifully lush sound. To hear him interact with Washington's empathetic bass and Farnsworth's insightful trap work, one can hear just how congenial and interconnected these guys operate as a single unit.

The title cut "For All We Know" opens the album with a slow saunter led by Washington's buoyant bass, Snidero's mellifluous alto, and Farnsworth's judicious snare. Snidero carries the melody with a depth and flow that navigates the changes with aplomb and sensitivity. As if his solo alto isn't exposed enough like a lone wolf out in the wild, at the six-minute mark, Jim offers a deeply personal and moving solo cadenza to finish this one off with confidence and beauty. 

John Coltrane's classic ballad to his wife, "Naima," is opened by Washington's resonant bass entre. There is little room for recreating this song in such a way that can replace the original, but Jim's alto enters playing the moving melody with reverence, his trademark tonal warmth, and a personal commitment to making it into his own vision. When this trio recreates this one, it shows that great songs in the hands of the right artists can always be reinvigorated and made surprisingly fresh. Bravo!

Cole Porter's "Love for Sale," made famous by Billie Holiday's languishing version, is given an upbeat treatment. Snidero's alto swings, Washington's vibrant bass carries the walk with authority, and Farnsworth is given a chance to demonstrate percussive acuity. Upbeat and on point.

A surprising addition to the repertoire is Alec Wilder's  "Blackberry Winter." This moving ballad is sadly not heard often in jazz sets. The melody allows Snidero  and Washington to do the heavy lifting here.  Washington's burnished bottom solo is the perfect vehicle to expand on this folksy feeling. Snidero provides a sinewy alto solo that navigates the theme with warmth and feeling.

"Parker's Mood" is a slow blues that has Snidero alto taking on a Cannonball-like feel. There is dexterity to this trio, a fluidity, and a soulful vibe that emanates with inventiveness. When they are playing there is a sense of intimacy that they generate. It's like seeing them playing just for you.

Classics like A. Ronell's "Willow Weep for Me," given a quick tempo, and Rogers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine" given an evocatively slow treatment, are each given their place as vehicles of invention. In both cases, the particularly telepathic interaction between Washington and Snidero, and Farnsworth's instinctive subtly, is what makes these such an enjoyable listen.

The superb set ends with another J. Coots tune "You Go To My Way" made famous by vocalists like Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan with Count Basie's Orchestra and Frank Sinatra and even instrumental versions by Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond and Bill Evans. The trio offers this version that has Snidero's alto spelling out the melody line in a jaunty, almost Desmond-like style. The notes just drip out of the bell of his saxophone like succulent drops of ambrosia. Washington and Farnsworth generously offer the perfect support, a fragrant unobtrusive rhythmic bouquet that graces the set. Snidero doesn't waste the opportunity. He  embellishes this memorable melody with style, grace, and aplomb. For All We Know is the kind of album one should just sit back, listen to and enjoy for its pure artistry.

Andy Milne and Unison: Poignancy, Jubilation and Conviction on "Time Will Tell"

Andy Milne and Unison: Time Will Tell: Sunnyside Records

Andy Milne is a Canadian pianist born in Hamilton, Ontario who studied at Banff Centre for Fine Arts and with pianist icon Oscar Peterson. He was a member of the enigmatic saxophonist Steve Coleman's group Five Elements and a member of the M-Base Collective. Milne won Canada's prestigious Juno Award for Jazz Group Album of the Year in 2018 for his Seasons of the Being with his Dapp Theory group. He was the pianist in Coleman's bands from 1992 through 2001 and held the piano chair in groups led by trumpeter Ralph Alessi, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, vocalist Cassandra Wilson, and others. He is presently an assistant professor of music at University of Michigan and an Assistant Director of The School of Improvisational Music.

I was fortunate to catch his performance as part of the progressive trumpeter Ralph Alessi's group at a show at Portland's 1905 back in June of 2023. Milne's approach to the keyboard is sensitive, probing, fluid, and inventive. His piano work is individualistic; an amalgam of melodic classical influences that are somehow framed in fearless jazz improvisational explorations all his own. His previous album The reMission, released in 2020, was inspired by his personal experience dealing with the discovery, treatment, and recovery of having had cancer. It was an aural reaction to a life-changing challenge that fortunately had an uplifting result. The album won Milne and his group Unison the 2021 Juno Award for Jazz Albums of the Year by Groups. 

      Andy Milne at the piano at Portland's 1905 June 2023

The pianist's latest Sunnyside album Time Will Tell with Andy Milne and Unison was released on April 26th of this year. He is joined by longtime trio members John Hébert on upright bass and Clarence Pennn on drums. The three have a synchronous connection that fits well with Milne's concept of how a trio should be keen on the elements of texture and groove in their approach to music. Milne, who was adopted, uses the inspiration of his lifelong search for his birth family and their history as the fuel that creates the impetus for most of this music.

Of the ten compositions in this record, eight are written by Milne. One, written by Hébert, "Broken Landscape," is a beautiful vehicle for the trio to share some expressive playing and telepathic interplay. Milne's piano is melodic, searching, and cascading. Hébert's bass tone is warm and resonating and Penn's brushwork impeccably supportive.

"Papounet' is a composition contributed by Penn, the title being a word used by the drummer's grandchildren as a favored name for him. The composition brings its own sense of family and connections to the album's theme. The trio's dynamic synchronicity is on full display on this one, with a highlight dynamic, whirling drum work by Penn.

Time Will Tell includes two guest performers who add their own textural and tonal aspects to this musical palette. The tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, who attended the Jazz Composers Insitute at UCLA at the same time as Milne back in 2012, lends her energy and facility to four of the songs.

"Purity of Heart", the opener and a Milne composition, is a case in point. Laubrock's added wattage, in synch with the trio's inherent, ostinato-driven propulsion is a splendid synthesis. The music has its own heartbeat, an organic drive that flows like a surging life force. Milne's piano illuminates the beauty of this music with his mastery of expression.

Milne's fascination with the sounds, textures, and color of various instruments, as well as his former work on an animated project Strings and Serpents, that included piano and koto duos, made the pianist want to add the second guest artist Yoko Reikano Kimura and her koto to this music. The koto is an expressive string instrument that can produce deeply emotive sounds that can range from soulful anguish to frantic ferocity. Milne skillfully uses the aurally complimentary musical possiblities of the koto and his piano in his compositions.



Unison Trio: Clarence Penn, Andy Milne, and John Hébert (photo credit Kasa Idzkowska)


"Lost and Found", a Milne beautiful composition that possibly captures his own experience with meeting his birth mother, opens with Kimura's koto setting the scene with a sense of soulful mystery and trepidation. Piano and koto do a delicate dance, a minuet-like note-for-note reception. Two entities, cautiously meeting after a long period of estrangement with caution, curiosity, and hopefulness.

"Beyond the Porcelain Door" is a jagged procession of sorts. It shifts in tempo and tone. Like a life that is faced with an unmapped route. Unknown territory and unexpected detours. Laubrock's tenor is out front as the trio navigates the chosen trail which seems a bit tentative. Kimura's koto, Milne's piano, Hébert's bass, and Penn's sticks spell out the steps forward in conjunction.

"Solotude" is a short one-minute and forty-second piano solo exploration. An acknowledgment that sometimes we are on our own.

The eastern-inspired "Kumoi Joshi" opens with Kimura's ostinato koto picking, Hébert's vibrant bass, and Penn's shimmering cymbal work. Laugbrock's soulful tenor opens with the melodic line as Milne's piano maintains the repeating line and the trio creates a swirling hum of energy. Milne offers an inspired chicanery of piano notes that erupt over his trio's powerful cauldron of activity until the music switches pace. Kimura's exotic-sounding koto creates a gauze of mystery and suspense over Penn and Hébert's rhythmic drone.

The album continues with Milne's "No Matter What" an ascending and descending line that opens like an abstract statement of direction with unexpected shifts and jagged fluctuations. The trio shows an uncanny athleticism, following each other precisely, empathetically, like three musical siblings joined at the hip.

Milne reprises "Lost and Found," this time opening as a sensitive solo piano piece for the first almost two-minute mark. The fetching melody starts out lyrical and introspective before Milne changes the tone and pace of the music. The rhythm section maintains the syncopated rhythmic feel before Laubrock's tenor enters with a plaintive and romantic sound. In it, I hear some fleeting similarities in the melody line on Sting's "Fragile." Listening to Milne's thoughtful solo, there is no similarity in the slightest, just bubbling inventiveness. He, Hébert, and Penn lock into the ether, they make the art of the trio truly a collaborative thing of beauty.

The album's closing composition, "Apart," I suspect is a reference to being sometimes separated from our families by life's often perplexing curveballs. Hébert's opening bass intro is sensitively offered before Milne's emotive piano lines ring out with beauty and hope. Andy Milne can be a joyous player. He and his trio play with an inherent sense of poignancy, jubilation, and conviction that rings through the music that they play.