Andy Milne and Unison - Time Will Tell

April 22, 2024

Label: Sunnyside Records, 2024

Personnel - Andy Milne: piano; John Hébert; bass; Clarence Penn: drums + Ingrid Laubrock: tenor saxophone (#1,4,6,9); Yoko Reikanu Kimura: koto (#2,4,6,9)

Pianist and composer Andy Milne reunites his Unison trio, featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Clarence Penn, to present the ten captivating compositions that make up Time Will Tell, an album that feels invigoratingly fresh and demands attention. Milne’s previous album, The ReMission (2020), was inspired by his cancer diagnosis, treatment, and cure, but for this new one he was highly influenced by findings related with his biological family, as he was adopted as a child. The addition of illustrious guest musicians, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor sax and Yoko Reikanu Kimura on koto, enriches the sonic landscape, bringing their diverse talents and individual artistic influences to the forefront.

The album opens with the harmonious waltzing cadence of “Purity of Heart”, where Laubrock’s firmly centered tone and Milne’s melodic prowess take center stage. “Lost and Found”, reflecting Milne’s quest to locate his birth mother, introduces Kimura’s koto, adding enigmatic tones and a dark atmosphere that, without anticipation, morphs into a sweeter passage where the melody breathes. Later on the recording, Laubrock joins the quartet for the more straightforward “Lost and Found: Reprise”, which, nonetheless, blossoms in seven.

“Beyond the Porcelain Door” and “Kumoi Joshi” also include saxophone and koto, each offering distinct sonic journeys. The former shapes as a half-dreamy, half-realistic avant-garde procession with a bold rhythmic shift into septuple meter and a malleable bass solo, while the latter, evoking poignancy through the exoticism of sounds, exposes thoughtful saxophone considerations and piano lyricism over a firm lockstep before modulating the surroundings for a fine koto solo.

The trio’s chemistry shines brightly on Penn’s “Papounet”, characterized by an enlivening harmonic progression and a nonuple meter backdrop produced by the regular alternation of five and four beat groups. Commanding the attention, Milne constructs and distorts phrases with impressive pliability. The piano-bass-drums triangle works its way through nicely textured pieces, and the closer, “Apart”, is no exception, delivered with soulful balladic instinct and sensitive brushwork.

Opting for variety under a post-bop umbrella with a special eclectic touch, Milne explores colorful frameworks where the voices of his bandmates become an extension of his own clear and accurate compositional delineations.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Lost and Found ► 03 - Papounet ► 04 - Beyond the Porcelain Door

Ingrid Laubrock / Andy Milne - Fragile

June 8, 2022

Label: Intakt Records, 2022

Personnel - Ingrid Laubrock: tenor and soprano saxophones; Andy Milne: piano.

Saxophonist and composer Ingrid Laubrock teams up with pianist Andy Milne as part of her sax/piano duo works for Intakt Records. Fragile, the third installment in the series, follows Kasumi (2019) with Aki Takase, and Blood Moon (2020) with Kris Davis, and features ten Laubrock compositions that blend written and improvised sections with perceptiveness.

“Equanimity” is made of pure accessibility, achieving a curious degree of collaborative empathy between the two musicians. Milne creates some mystery through reflection, with the light brushstrokes of the saxophone giving a final composition to that background. The dialogue is intensified before ending in the same self-possessed vein as it started.

Three pieces suggest the world music fusions of Art Ensemble of Chicago, branding a sort of mysticism that seems to celebrate nature in all its splendor. Two of them, “Fragment” and “Splinter”, are versions of the same piece that, taking the form of an indigenous ritual, feature soprano streams and prepared piano with African-tinged overtones. The other is “Shard“, which includes a smattering of air sounds and piercing long notes. Milne, a former member of Steve Coleman’s Five Elements and Ralph Alessi’s This Against That, credits fellow pianist Benoit Delbecq for the inspiration in the production of these singular effects.

If this selection of three feels more celebratory than off-kilter, then “Unapologetically Yours” strips away nuance and shading in lieu of a hearty expressionism. It morphs from fidgety to balmy, without achieving the delicate reverie of the previous track, “Ants in my Brain”. Conversely, “Illusion of Character” brings Laubrock’s melodic sinuosity to the fore, reaping the benefits of Milne’s vertiginous whirls, which, in a few cases, end in a crashing root note.

Milne provides sensational comp for Laubrock’s compositional sophistication. Their successful interactions inform us of their refined musical sensibilities.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Fragment ► 07 - Unapologetically Yours ► 08 - Illusion of Character

Andy Milne and Unison - The reMission

April 7, 2020

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.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Passion Dance ► 06 - Anything About Anything ► Geewa