Label: Percaso Production, 2020

Personnel - Christoph Gallio: alto and soprano saxophones; Silvan Jeger: acoustic and electric basses; Gerry Hemingway: drums.

Day & Taxi is an avant-jazz trio spearheaded by Swiss saxophonist Christoph Gallio, who has been probing different rhythm sections since 1992, the year of the project’s inception. Devotion, the most recent outing on his own label Percaso Production, features Swiss bassist Silvan Jeger, a regular collaborator since 2013, and the notable American drummer Gerry Hemingway, who, sitting in for David Meier, joins them for the first time in record.

This current formation works very well, navigating through a collection of 20 Gallio tunes with a pure, instinctive sense of aesthetic and explorative imagination. The words of Austrian poet Friederike Mayrocker are heard on three selections.

A fair amount of tracks is dedicated to fellow artists, and the opener, “Tall Guy Blues”, which was penned for Swiss bassist Christian Weber, falls within the latter category. At a first glance, a calculated insouciance is discernible, and the group communicates the feeling of creativity. The language and tone of Gallio are bold and sinewy, respectively, somewhere in-between Joseph Jarman and David Murray. However, on “Silvia (to Silvia Bächli)”, his courses made me think of John Tchicai.

“Gegenteil (to Jürg Stäuble)” revolves around a catchy melodic idea while flowing with audacity, energy and wit. In its last section, sax and drums react simultaneously, displaying a functional coordination. The spirit of this piece steps away from “Mare (to Kaissa Camara, 1998-2018)”, which, embracing a strange serenity, makes use of droning legatos and gets closer to “South For North”, a groovy dance of freedom with shades of Steve Lacy and Marty Ehrlich. Upon wild extemporaneous flights from Gallio, it’s Hemingway who, in complete command of the drum set, shows how beautiful and melodic his chops are.

The drummer jumps into the lead spot again on the taut “Pan Comido (to Hans Tanner)”, finishing it in big after locking in with Jeger in support of Gallio’s underlying impetus and growls. The saxophonist switches to soprano on “Fleurette Danoise (to Anne Hoffmann)”, ingraining it with Lacy’s mood.

Smitten with free funk and electronic music, pieces like “Doowoo (to Corsin Fontana)” and “Lightweight Heavyweight (to Eric Hattan)” have a pumped-up electric bass giving them life via strutting, roundish lines. Yet, while the former shapes as an avant-garde jazz stretch with an alternative coating, the latter falls into experimental jazztronica, barely touching dub zones.

This recording doesn’t disappoint, and all three musicians, taking obvious joy from the experience, will certainly make the listeners feel great too.