Label: Elastic Recordings, 2022
Personnel - Bea Labikova: alto and soprano saxophone; Naomi McCarroll-Butler: clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone; Tom Fleming: guitar; Michael Davidson: vibraphone; Alex Fournier: double bass; Stefan Hegerat: drums.
Alex Fournier, a supple bassist and excellent composer from Ontario, Canada, leads his galvanizing sextet Triio in this impressive follow-up to their debut album released in 2019. The 5-track program of originals, whose sounds carve into your skin and mind with a complexity that feels human, not mechanical, comes filled with sly rhythms and distinguished avant-garde traits that don’t adhere to conventional patterns.
Vouching for a perfect balance between robustness and refinement, as well as empathic accompaniments with fine solos atop, the group first attacks with “An Intrepid Toad”, alluring us to its rhythm and calling our attention to a well-oiled improvisation with inside out distortions by guitarist Tom Fleming. He’s followed by altoist Naomi McCarroll-Butler, who expresses her thoughts over a less dense substratum.
Being as much pointed as it is charming, the title track, “Six-ish Plateaus”, starts off with a free posture in a funny conversational mode, but reveals a shapeshifting character over the course of its eight-and-a-half minutes. It gains an identifiable configuration before the minute two, alternating patterned odd-metered cycles with a rock-infused 4/4 drive. The energy is cut back for a moment, claiming repose with a passage delimited by vibraphone, guitar and bass. The final section has Fournier and drummer Stefan Hegerat engaging in a dazzlingly crisp rhythmic drive with reedists Bea Labikova and McCarroll-Butler whirling in parallel motion.
Also with considerable twists along its structure, the funnily titled “Saltlick City” documents labyrinthine paths while displaying fair amounts of melody, ostinatos, and imaginative rhythms. Gutsy drumming with nice beat displacements during an odd-metered cycle; bowed bass and the horns in close proximity, triggering multi-rhythmic responses from vibraphone and drums; intoxicating solos from alto sax and bass clarinet - all take part in the mercurial temperament of the piece.
Fournier’s music can bend and bruise but can also meditate and sooth. Examples are the unhurried “Aneda/Agenda”, whose relentless curvatures and sharp corners feel like a crossing between Bobby Hutcherson and Sam Rivers; and “Tragic Leisure”, which indulges in a lethargic abstraction. Both these pieces radiate energy in their last segments with just enough of a crisp edge, especially the latter, which swings and rocks simultaneously.
Profuse in ideas, these compositions are strong enough to stand up proudly in the modern jazz sphere. Fournier and his group rightfully deserve acclaim as their sound evolve significantly.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - An Intrepid Toad ► 02 - Six-ish Plateaus ► 05 - Saltlick City