Various preoccupations have slowed my listening and reviewing, so to pick up some of the slack, “Something for Everyone” features short reviews of six groups, covering a wide range of styles and sensibilities. Featured artists in part 2 include H M C, the Yes trio, and the Matt Slocum trio.

H M C
High and Outside (Cadence Jazz Records)
A review
Old school meets new school on High and Outside, the second release from H M C, recorded live in concert at Metuchen, NJ, in April 2002 (just look at the babies in the photo). Old school because H M C—that’s Jimmy Halperin (tenor sax), Don Messina (bass), and Bill Chattin (drums), all of whom come out of the Lennie Tristano school—adhere to the classic format of head–sax solo–bass solo–trading with drums–head on eight of the nine tracks. (The ninth is a lovely solo from Halperin on the title track, a Halperin original.) New school because the three members find new chambers to explore in well-known and often played tunes. Halperin, in particular, with his velvet tone, discovers unsuspected channels through the changes, illuminating previously hidden facets of the tunes. His solos, unhurried at any tempo, unfurl with a fluid and compelling logic that carries you along with him. In his liner notes, Messina offers this astute description of Halperin’s work: “Jimmy’s playing can be inside the tune and respectful of the melody but he is just way too outside”—in a very good way, I would add. Messina is swinging right there with him, making instantaneous adjustments to Halperin’s harmonic flexibility. Messina and Chattin provide a solid but limber rhythmic spine. Together, the three play the tunes the way a mountain stream plays the mountain. Highlights include “Melancholy Baby” (You could dislocate your ankle tapping your foot to this one. What is it about this tune in particular that so energizes players out of the Tristano school?); that paean to a lost cause, “Ghost of a Chance;” and Tristano’s “Leave Me.”

Yes! Trio
Groove du Jour (Jazz & People)
A review
Just as Ella’s voice had sunshine in it, so does the Yes! Trio—Aaron Goldberg (piano), Omer Avital (bass), and Ali Jackson (drums)—have a smile in everything they do. Pay attention to the exclamation point in their name—they earn it, with animated performances that brim with a can-you-believe-this astonishment at their own performances, like three kids let loose in the music room. Each member is a leader in his own right, but in this trio, they adhere to an egalitarian ethos, both in the mix and in the way they trade the lead voice. Every one of the 10 tracks is colored by the kinetic exuberance of Jackson, the purr in Avital’s bass, and the muscularity of Goldberg’s fingers, and they all swing. There are seven originals—four from Avital, three from Jackson, and one from Goldberg—and two covers: Jackie McLean’s “Dr. Jackle” and the songbook standard “I’ll Be Seeing You,” which starts delicately but surrenders to the groove and works its way into a high simmer. Avital’s “Muhammad’s Market” opens with a nice hook on bass and burns up the oxygen. His Latin-tinged “Flow” features a furious and mesmerizing solo from Jackson, while Jackson’s “Claqué,” which translates as “tap dance,” insists on a percussive batucada-like approach from all three. Groove du Jour delivers a spirit-lifting musical experience that honors the past, relishes the present, and demands that before all else, the music must swing.

Matt Slocum Trio
Sanctuary (Sunnyside Records)
A review
Apologies to drummer/composer Matt Slocum and his colleagues Gerald Clayton (piano) and Larry Grenadier (bass) for taking seven months to get around to reviewing this brainy, balanced, poignant, and cleansing album, but I just recently found it hiding in plain sight. Aptly titled, Sanctuary offers a safe place to contemplate the fractured times in which we live and the healing possibilities. The notes tell us that the album, which includes a cover of Sufjan Stevens’ “Romulus,” the album opener, and seven Slocum originals, was recorded after a single rehearsal. Must have been one helluva rehearsal because these guys are so attuned to one another that it sounds as if they’d been perfecting these compositions on a year-long tour. They are as tight and modern as the slim trouser legs of contemporary fashion. The probing, clearly articulated piano on the deeply melancholic opener states the problem, and the album arcs through light and dark reflections before coming to an optimistic and propulsive resolution on the final track, “Anselmo.” Slocum must have been pinching himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming about the extraordinarily sympathetic contributions of Clayton and Grenadier, whose deep feeling, humanity, and musical proficiency fulfill the potential of his melodic compositions. Slocum shows himself to be a deft and understated drummer. He plays an almost self-effacing supporting role throughout, with few but expressive solos. Highlights include the dreamy “Aspen Island,” all wonder and mist; “Star Prairie,” enlarged by the rich harmonic sense of Clayton; “A Dissolving Alliance,” a beautiful composition about an unsettled and unsettling time in which certainty has been suspended; and the title track’s musical incarnation of hope. Sanctuary offers an extended reverie that salves anxieties and animates heart and brain, and I expect to explore its welcome message with repeat listenings in the days ahead.

© 2019 Mel Minter