Jazz speaks in many dialects, or maybe it’s more accurate to say that different musical genres find it easy to apply jazz techniques to their native material. Gilfema (Lionel Loueke, Massimo Biolcati, Ferenc Nemeth) applies them to a West African musical palette; the Kenny Barron|Dave Holland Trio, Featuring Johnathan Blake, to a collection of compositions squarely in the mainstream of the American jazz tradition; Grégoire Maret, Romain Collin, and Bill Frisell, to a range of material in the Americana songbook. In sum, we have three outstanding trios offering three satisfying new recordings across a range of sensibilities.

Gilfema
Three (Sounderscore Records)
A review
On Three, the whisper of guitarist Lionel Loueke’s nylon strings (with adept use of FX), the astute electric bass of Massimo Biolcati, and the kinetic drumming of Ferenc Nemeth mesh like a three-way gear, propelling a rhythmically complex perpetual motion machine (as on the brisk tumble of Loueke and Biolcati’s “Brio”), turning rhythm into melody (as on Loueke’s “Fleuve Congo”), and demanding that you get up and move something. The mix of highlife and jazz had me looking for my King Sunny Adé records, wanting more of that irresistible flow. Produced by Biolcati and recorded in one marathon 12-hour session, the material was then edited and manipulated postproduction, but the sound is seamless and alive. Twelve of the 13 tracks are originals from the trio’s members. The one cover, Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing,” nicely transposes the tender tune to the West African palette. Other highlights include the funky “Algorythm and Blues” (Loueke/Biolcati), lit by melodic shards broken off by Loueke on an organlike guitar, and the groove-riding “Happiness” (Nemeth), which sounds like an tune from an Africa somewhere outside our solar system. 

Kenny Barron|Dave Holland Trio, Featuring Johnathan Blake
Without Deception (Dare2 Records)
A review
Pianist Kenny Barron and bassist Dave Holland, NEA Masters with long and illustrious résumés who successfully paired up on the duo outing The Art of Conversation, invited a rising star from a later generation, the subtle and inventive drummer Johnathan Blake, to join forces with them on Without Deception (available April 3). The result is a trio as relaxed and deft and connected as you will find anywhere. Blake provides a dependable suspension system for his colleagues. His light touch but oh-so-kinetic drumming—his double-stroke rolls are marvels of speed and tightness—correspond beautifully with Holland’s rhythmic subtlety, his authoritative and nimble bass. Barron, as usual, is a model of sophisticated fluidity. These guys have nothing to prove, and they deliver the goods—10 tracks, with 7 originals and 3 covers—in the warm and relaxed manner available only to masters. Barron’s bossa “Porto Alegre” opens the proceedings and includes a solo from Blake that is as sparkling clean as my mother’s kitchen floor and as crisp as a freshly pressed shirt. On Mulgrew Miller’s “Second Thoughts,” Holland and Blake are joined at the hip, and Barron offers a nicely shaped solo. Holland adds a touch of Brazil to Barron’s “Until Then” and takes a cheery turn of his own. On the pianist’s “Speed Trap,” check out Holland’s “running” bass. “Secret Places,” from Barron’s protégé Sumi Tonooka, has a nice rising line in the head that dissolves, maybe not wanting to reveal too much, and Barron’s lines, here as everywhere else, are built on a firm but limber spine. Holland’s “Pass It On,” dedicated to the late great New Orleans drummer Ed Blackwell, opens with a march from Blake, to which Holland adds a funky bass, and trio proceeds on a proud and joyful parade. Ellington’s “Warm Valley” gets a painterly treatment, and Monk’s “Worry Later” demonstrates Barron’s deep feel for the music of the High Priest of Bop. Without Deception says take it as it is, and as it is, it is exactly right.

Grégoire Maret, Romain Collin, Bill Frisell
Americana (ACT)
A review
On Americana (currently available on Spotify and Apple Music, with official release on April 24), Grégoire Maret (harmonica), Romain Collin (piano, Moog Taurus, pump organ, and additional effects), and Bill Frisell (electric guitar and acoustic guitar and banjo) make a languid, spacious, and often rhapsodic exploration of the varied roots of American music. The project was birthed by Maret and Romain—Swiss-American and French, respectively—who invited Frisell, the nonpareil interpreter of American roots music in all its forms, to join in. As usual, catalyst Frisell’s contribution is as restrained as it is essential. The album’s nine tracks include five originals from the trio’s members and four covers. The opener, Mark Knopfler’s “Brothers in Arms,” captures the melancholy resolve that threads through so much American music, and the trio proves itself unafraid of consonance. Frisell’s “Small Town” evokes the pleasures of solitude on the open prairie, as does Maret’s solo. Collin shows himself a committed student of Americana with his “San Luis Obispo,” which conjures the rolling hills of California wine country. Maret’s “Back Home,” grounded in a stately arpeggiation from Collin, with a cameo from drummer Clarence Penn on brushes, features a stunning harmonica solo in the upper register of the instrument. The trio captures the proud resignation in Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” colored by the profound emotional subtlety of Maret’s harmonica. Collin shines on Maret’s “the Sail,” with a solo that pleasantly undermines your expectations. The album’s closer, “Still” (Maret/Collin), opens with a bed of rippling piano interlaced with electronic effects. Maret joins in after a couple of minutes, offering laconic comments to the piano’s dreamy, lush abstraction. It seems to reflect a certain stillness that sits deep in the heart of every preceding track and in the wide open space of America.

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© 2020 Mel Minter