Gary Peacock Trio, Now This

It is rather incredible thinking retrospectively at this later date about the presence of bassist Gary Peacock on the jazz scene. He was an important member of many classic avant and otherwise dates before he became the long-standing bassist with Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio. And with Gary's new trio CD Now This (ECM 2428) we are reminded of what he can do and be in a changed playing context.

The trio is an excellent one, with Marc Copland at the piano and Joey Baron on drums, two very beautiful players who have for years managed to create their own stylistic turf in an ever-shifting improvisatory world. The three together here remind you that having a truly individual voice in this music is very difficult and very rare. Peacock, Copland and Baron have done it and by getting together as a threesome they make a trio that stands out as a furtherance of their personal and collective selves as well as of the music.

The tunes are gems, seven by Peacock, two by Copland, one by Baron and the classic "Gloria's Step" by Scott LaFaro. The nod to the bass pioneer reminds us of the now long history of the modern piano trio and Peacock's central place in it, as well as of the critical legacy of LaFaro in creating the bass role for the classic Evans Trio. Gary of course spent a long time creating his own place in that legacy and we are witness to its mature ripening, its full-flowering on this release as on the classic Jarrett sides.

Happily, there is a good deal of Peacock's playing in an out-front context and he sounds very wonderfully himself throughout. The magic touch and voicing excellence of Copland shines forward as well, making this something special. And Baron in the piano trio tradition is subtle and supremely artistic.

This date has a sublimity about it that comes about when three artists of this high caliber get real traction from the three-way dialog. It is inspired music, piano trio music of the highest sort. They are substantially different sounding than the Standards Trio and so there is a freshness here, a different sort of beauty.

Highly recommended!

John Abercrombie Quartet, 39 Steps

John Abercrombie is one of the small handful of highly influential innovators of jazz guitar in my lifetime. I think most anybody who knows the history of the present would agree to that. So his new quartet album 39 Steps (ECM) got my full attention when I put it on. This one is so cool, so quiet. At first it nearly put me off. But no, I had to listen more. With Marc Copland on piano, Drew Gress on acoustic bass and Joey Baron on drums, I knew I had to keep listening.

And as I did I started picking up on how hard they were swinging, and how hip John Abercrombie's line weaving was. Good lord! The rhythm team of Gress and Baron are doing it, but sooo quietly. And Copland solos like you know he can.

The tunes are nice, subtle but filled with turns and twists. Six are by John, two by Marc, one collective improv and a good stab at "Melancholy Baby," which goes way back for me because it was the first Billie Holiday side I ever heard, an old 78 my buddy brought out of his parent's attic and came over with when I was in 8th grade. So I still love to hear the tune and John's is no rote rendition, as of course follows without a need for concern.

This is an album of great chemistry. Copland and Abercrombie have played together since the '70s, as the press sheet reminds us, and there is a tight-knit dialog between them that shows. You forget as you listen that two harmonic instruments like the guitar and piano together can start clashing if they don't have an intuitive feel for each other's playing. These guys most certainly do. No clashes whatsoever--just the opposite.

And hey, Gress and Baron are so together here.

All I can say is that by the fifth hearing (as I write this) I am way past the surprise at the coolness. The music has wrapped itself around me more than a few times and I am in the middle with a big appreciation. Wow!