Label: Sunnyside Records, 2020
Personnel - Andy Milne: piano; John Hébert: bass; Clarence Penn: drums.
Pianist Andy Milne releases a trio album of mainly original material in the company of generous cohorts, bassist John Hébert and drummer Clarence Penn. The exploration of the classic piano trio formation was being delayed for over a decade, with Milne focusing on duos, quartets and quintets, but now, after overcoming a health challenge, the pianist embraces this Unison trio project with all his soul. He is found in great shape throughout the ten tracks of a record composed of eight originals - some of them purposely written for this trio - and two covers, which bookend the album.
A spirited reading of “Passion Dance”, one of McCoy Tyner’s finest compositions, is presented in opposition to the polished depiction given to Benny Golson’s “Sad to Say”. The two aforementioned pieces are the opener and closer of this journey, respectively. While the former has those pleasurable modal chords soaring over a magnetic groove, also swinging when convenient, the latter is rendered with some cautious restraint but also a strange magic. It’s jazz sculpted with art and melancholia.
Due to a foreboding mystery created by timely low-pitched notes on the piano and the harmonic quality of its progression, “Resolution” conveys a sensation of solitude; no wonder it was originally composed for solo piano, yet it can be poetic and levitating at times. Hébert bows with depth on the largely rubato “The Call”, which emits deep, disconsolate tones. Adopting a slightly abstracted posture, the trio’s sense of exploration plays out intriguingly on this particular piece.
A singular, melancholic placidity is found on tunes such as “Vertical on Opening Night”, a vehicle for the bassist’s melodicism, and the beautiful “Anything About Anything”, introduced by engrossing bass sounds and the subdued brushwork of Penn, a terrific colorist who joins with the bandleader on record for the very first time. The spiritual openness of the piano chords is utterly rewarding, while the melody is light-emitting. It’s one of my favorite tracks on the album.
If “Winter Palace” is pure post-bop amusement well-founded on a rhythmic figure shared by piano and bass, then “Drive By-The Fall” expands the scope, initiating its course with timbral contrasts on the drums and a bass pedal delivered with the essential rhythmic flair. It then segues into a relaxed 4/4-metered passage until shifting again and again through seamless transitions, straddling the line between the intimate and the demonstrative.
“Geewa” relies on intuitive counterpoint and rhythmic venture, accommodating an inner pressure ready to come out anytime, whereas “Dancing on the Savannah” allows us to experience and feel groove in a more systematized way.
The album title, The reMission, couldn’t be clearer, and Milne deserves compliments for both the remission of the disease he was diagnosed with and the mission accomplished with this gorgeous trio recording.
Grade B+
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Passion Dance ► 06 - Anything About Anything ► Geewa