Label: Sunnyside Records, 2025
Personnel - Carmen Staaf: piano; Ambrose Akinmusire: trumpet; Ben Goldberg: clarinets; Darren Johnston: trumpet; Dillon Vado: vibraphone; John Santos: percussion; Hamir Atwal: drums.
In her latest album, Sounding Line, pianist and composer Carmen Staaf probes different lineups and approaches, reimagining the music of pianists Mary Lou Williams and Thelonious Monk as intimate ‘conversations’. Inspired by their friendship and shared musical sensibilities, Staaf revisits two Monk pieces and three Williams gems—respectful but never slavish—while adding two of her own.
Duets with the incomparable trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire bookend the album. Williams’ “Scorpio” is stripped down to a six-beat piano bass figure over which Akinmusire unfurls his rich lyricism and unmistakable tone before the duo slides seamlessly into a 4/4 blues. The closer, Staaf’s “The Water Wheel” conjures magic. There’s nowhere to hide in a piano/trumpet duet and yet their introspective, dreamlike aura feels so natural and captivating—a rare convergence of aural bliss. Akinmusire devastates with his lyrical intensity before the texture swells toward an emotional climax.
A delightful lightness pervades Williams’s “Libra”, whose mix of poignancy and radiance is reinforced by clarinetist Ben Goldberg. The thoughtful piano comping and well-coordinated passages help rising the emotional levels. Goldberg is even more prominent on “Koolbonga”, an exotic Williams blues where he makes the bass clarinet groove with an agitated simmer. Presented in a quintet format, it brings trumpeter Darren Johnston and vibist Dillon Vado—here on tambourine—into tight coordination with Staaf and drummer Hamir Atwal.
The Monk selections are equally inspired. “Bye-Ya” features percussionist John Santos in a groovy dance designed with a peculiar lilt, harmonic sophistication, and quirky intervallic melodicism. “Monk’s Mood”, atmospherically rendered in rubato mode, has its theme built with Vado’s airy vibes.
Staaf’s “Boiling Point”, inspired by Monk’s “Shuffle Boil”, toys with tempo shifts, featuring solos from Johnston, who employs slick jazzy lines, and Staaf, who ventures fearlessly across Goldberg’s clarinet foundation and Atwal’s flickering brushwork.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Scorpio ► 03 - Libra ► 07 - The Water Wheel