Label: Savant, 2020

Personnel - JD Allen: tenor saxophone; Ian Kenselaar: bass; Nic Cacioppo: drums.

Throughout a triumphant career, saxophonist JD Allen has taken the time to refine his sound and develop his language, carving out a unique place for himself in the jazz spectrum. On his new trio outing, Toys / Die Dreaming, he summons for the second time bassist Ian Kenselaar and drummer Nic Cacioppo, two young musicians who find here a pragmatic compromise between the robust, the adventurous, and the polished.

Peppering the proceedings, the trio opens with a standard; “You’re My Thrill” gets a fresh reworking from minute one, when Kenselaar and Cacioppo create the ideal ambiance for Allen’s advanced melodic recital. The theme, stated with smart and subtle punctuation, is followed by improvised tenor run-ups embellished with blues and gospel licks. Allen’s engrossing intonation - incisive, dark and compact - is on full display here, providing unexpected muscularity to a supposedly soft tune.

In opposition to the first track, “The G Thing” feels like a standard without being one. It displays a solid mid-tempo swing after a theme statement conducted with beseeching sax melodies and cymbal legato.

Written by trombonist Peter Lin, “Red Label” is a typical 12-bar blues that gets a special vibe in the hands of the trio, while “Toys” denotes a very peculiar mood, being upgraded with an interesting bass/drums dialogue.

“Die Dreaming” is also delivered with precision and sonic might. It’s aligned by an agile bass riff and fleshed out by extroverted sax lines with pertinent multiphonic incursions that brings Chick Corea's "Samba Yantra" to mind. The swinging drive is an invitation to exploration, including a potent, rock-ish bass solo.

The set-closing, “Elegua (The Trickster)” is pleased with its groovy spirit and hard-bop stamina. It kicks off with a declamatory drum solo, and then Allen, evoking Coltrane and Rollins, plumbs the outer reaches of traditional post-bop with elegant sophistication. His bold, consecutive inside/outside attacks are breathtaking.

Not as muscled as Barracoon, its predecessor, Toys/Die Dreaming features Allen as we know him: in superb form.