Making complex rhythms comprehendible, drummer Jim Black and his trio with Thomas Morgan on bass and pianist Elias Stemeseder, present their 4th album, with 11 original compositions by the leader recorded in the studio in Switzerland, reckoning unusual pulses with swinging rhythms over which all three improvise with free and lyrical mastery for brilliant results.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2020 Country: Switzerland Packaging: Jewel Case Recorded at Hardstudios, in Winterthur, Switzerland, on January 15th and 16th, 2019, by Michael Brandli.
"The Chicago Reader describes the Jim Black Trio with Thomas Morgan and Elias Stemeseder "one of the best bands in Jim Black's busy career". In the HardStudios Winterthur the trio recorded this new album over two days. It is their fourth album as a trio and their second release on Intakt Records. Drummer Jim Black has one of the most immediately recognizable styles in Jazz -- his wonderful unhinged playing bears the mark of the rock backbeat, but he adds a clanking disruptive quality that forces his collaborators to sharpen their reflexes.
"They find their own space", writes Kevin Whitehead in the liner notes. "Stemeseder is an original. It's not that he never backstops a right-hand melody with left-hand chords - he just does it less than most jazz pianists. He can feather the pedals or get stabby percussive, but never over-plays. The space he leaves around the piano's sound is an invitation: he creates room. Like Stemeseder, Thomas Morgan has the confidence to do nothing where another accompanist might fill all the holes. His bass tone is ringing and clear, his attack has propulsive bite, and his lines sing. He provides a through-line when the other guys fracture."-Intakt
"This was an album that takes the standard piano trio format and really runs with it. With Jim Black on drums, Thomas Morgan on bass and Elias Stemeseder on piano, their imagination is really the limit. Recorded quickly over the course of two days, it's clear that the band was inspired by the company and the content and it shows in the results. "Astrono Said So" features nimble, intricate bass and drums, where the piano enters gradually, building a close knit three way conversation, and develops a ever faster flow. The music becomes quite open and free sounding with thick elastic bass yoking the propulsive drumming and piano playing, becoming slightly frayed at the end, and returning to the original opening. Spare and subdued, "Tripped Overhue" offers music that floats with a gentle melodic sensibility, becoming gradually more forceful as the performance develops, waxing and waning with snappy bass playing, drumming and fluid keyboard playing. "Tighter Whined" has expressive drumming and bass playing in a very forceful manner with piano chords adding to the urgency of the piece. The sound builds from darkness into differing shades, flashing fast and exciting like an experimental black and white film. Gliding gracefully at midtempo, "Spooty And Snofer" works interesting tones with bass and piano notes falling like droplets from the sky, and an industrial, motorik beat underneath. This has the feel of a Bad Plus performance from when Ethan Iverson was in the band, eventually moving to a fine bass feature leading to a graceful conclusion. "Next Razor World" guides a crisp slapping beat against playing from inside the piano. Large bass notes frame this unusual and strange sound, very free and experimental, with strumming inside the piano building an almost West African sound then moving back to the traditional keyboard. Space, bass and inside playing are hallmarks of "Dancy Clear Ends" which suddenly flashes into light with a fast paced trio improvisation, where short cymbal crashes accent the fluid piano playing and bass pulses. The music becomes freer but still hurtles ahead leading to another excellent bass solo, and finale. "This One And This Too" uses slow motion sounds, picking and playing the piano dexterously, giving the music a much wider sonic palette, then darting around excitedly over a backdrop of solid bass and encouraging drums. There is a wildly exciting group improvisation takes them into the outer limits and back just as quickly, bringing them to the end of an album that was both engagingly accessible and courageous in its atmospheric experimentation."-Tim Niland, Jazz and Blues Blogspot Get additional information at Jazz and Blues Blogspot