Label: ears&eyes Records, 2022

Personnel - Shawn Lovato: bass, composition; Michael Attias: alto saxophone; Patti Kilroy: violin; Hannis Brown: guitar; Santiago Leibson: piano; Vinnie Sperrazza: drums; Colin Hinton percussion.

This commissioned opus composed by bassist/composer Shawn Lovato is structurally interesting, blurring the line between composition and improvisation with an up-to-date vision. The eight parts of the suite take us from the abstract to the concrete and were designed for a septet that integrates Lovato’s concert trio mates in Hotel Elefant - guitarist Hannis Brown and violinist Patti Kilroy - and New York-based jazz improvisers of the first order such as saxophonist Michael Attias, keyboardist Santiago Leibson, and drummers Vinnie Sperrazza and Colin Hinton.

The bandleader gets things cooking right away with some enigmatic vibes in the opener “Microcosms (opening)”. At first you hear deep arco bass playing, flimsy saxophone vibration, inscrutable violin screeches, a slightly eerie piano ebb and flow, and warped guitar contortions. The texture is later supplemented with drums, slowing down again when thoughtful bass plucks make a bed for Attias’ altissimo circular notes and terse phrases. The saxophonist has the word on “Modular Ascension”, choosing his idioms with freedom and getting suitable feedback from Leibson. The complex rhythm is driven nicely here, but the group also swings unabashedly, enjoying a more familiar jazz atmosphere.

Guitar and violin are preponderant on “Serenity Amid Absurdity”, which goes from a nearly transcendental Eastern psychedelia to a contrapuntal abstract setting that is far more serene and composed. Its last segment brings everyone together in a contrast of rhythms that creates considerable internal tension.

Sperrazza plays a tightly weaved solo drum part at the outset of “Splitting Hairs Part I”, which evolves into a collective dirge with the help of Leibson’s underpinning. The last section of “Splitting Hairs Part II” is even more exciting with Attias blowing his horn convincingly against a controlled cadenza.

With a well-measured melodic cell concept at the base, “Splitting Atoms I” has Lovato’s bandmates responding with stellar playing to his compositional challenges. They absolutely float free, but with violin, guitar and glockenspiel standing out in close communication. Before “Microcosms (closing)” finishes the cycle in a sort of classical chamber mode, Lovato claims the deserved spotlight on “Splitting Atoms II”, an unaccompanied bass effort.

There’s a fresh, unmannered feel in these tangled septet explorations devised with considerable room for individual expression. Many other avenues may be beckoning for Lovato’s talents, and it will be interesting to see what he does next.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Microcosms (opening) ► 02 - Modular Ascension ► 06 - Splitting Atoms I

Label/Year: Skirl Records, 2017

Lineup – Loren Stillman: alto sax; Brad Shepik: guitar; Santiago Leibson: piano; Shawn Lovato: bass; Chris Carroll: drums.

American bassist Shawn Lovato puts all his musical influences to work on his debut album, Cycles of Animation, a poised collection of eight modern compositions mounted with the precious help of a quintet that features Loren Stillman on alto sax, Brad Shepik on electric guitar, Santiago Leibson on piano, and Chris Carroll on drums.

The burning counterpoint on “Loose Noodle” is absolutely stunning, provoking a hair-raising sensation as if an electric current would have been running in our veins. The rhythm, unwavering and strong in spirit, is disseminated by Lovato and Carroll, while Shepik focuses on the narration of an enigmatic episode, meticulously described with realistic expression. The rhythmic regularity of Leibson’s comping soon winds down, becoming loose when Stillman starts improvising. It reappears later, steady and nearly ritualistic, to finish the tune and favoring a few impulsive trills packed by the saxophonist.

Initiating its journey by visiting the piano trio realm, “Static Phases Illuminated” unpretentiously mingles improvisation with written material, featuring indomitable guitar reflections surrounded by delay effect before synched phrases take the central spot.

The title that lends its name to the album, "Animated Cycle", is divided into three parts, all of them shaped with a piano-bass-drums configuration. The first part is introspective and sorrowful, the second one creates an intriguing setting that balances the lyrical and the percussive sides, and the third sounds ample and vague, slowly catching sight of an air bubble to breathe.

On the shape-shifting neo-bop adventure “Brain Drain”, Lovato’s bass is set free but ends up swinging aplomb while inviting Leibson to the party. The pianist takes consecutive rhythmic figures with him, but minutes later, offers his place to Shepik, who clears up with consummate rhythmic coordination. To finish, Stillman steps in and flies high, having a pushy, pulsating funk groove supporting his endeavor.

The jittery “7th Street Jig” exhales folk tradition through the playful melodic statement but grows in a more exploratory avant-garde atmosphere. After the bass rambles over sweeping piano twirls, and saxophone cacophonies over crisp bass sounds, we have a fleeting collective improvisation prior to the restoration of the theme. This posture feels contrary to the closing piece, “Unplugged Slug”, where an uncompromising languor starts gaining weight very early with the introductory bass solo and proceeds in its subsequent seamless transitions. Although dreamy, Leibson’s solo keeps us alert throughout, while Stillman never loses confidence in his unguessable sayings, regardless if he has the guitarist’s eerie drones or the pianist’s tart chords sounding at a lower level. By the end, Shepik scrutinizes multiple timbres within the volubility of his melodic ideas.

Cycles of Animation serves as a showcase for an organic mosaic of colors, rhythms, and textures. Resorting to clever structural vistas, Lovato penned engaging pieces that emphasize the collective and the individual alike.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Loose Noodle ► 04 - Brain Drain ► 08 - Unplugged Slug