Old friends Edward Simon, Scott Colley, and Brian Blade have reformed their trio for Three Visitors, their lyrical new jazz album, and a new friend, French-Dominican-Canadian pianist Thélonius García, offers an often captivating solo recording, Marche Nocturne, in more of a classical outing.

Edward Simon, Scott Colley, and Brian Blade
Three Visitors (GroundUp Music)
A review
Edward Simon (piano), Scott Colley (bass), and Brian Blade (drums) make music that is as satisfying to neophyte jazz listeners as it is to crusty jazz veterans. It’s not particularly easy music, but it’s eminently accessible for neophytes while having the complexity and sophistication to command the attention of vets. What makes it work for both groups—aside from the players’ absolute command of their instruments—is deep and honest feeling beautifully expressed. These three guys have played together often, providing a lyrical and dynamic rhythm section in a variety of jazz ensembles, so they are well acquainted with one another and possess a correspondence and trust that allows the music to go where it will unimpeded, to breathe easily. They first came together as a trio of their own in 2017, releasing Steel House, a collection of original music whose influences stretched across jazz, folk, rock, pop, classical, minimalism, and electronica. Now, once again carving out time from their packed schedules, they have come together again to release Three Visitors, whose all-original repertoire is more tightly but not entirely focused on jazz. As before, their mastery, their high regard for one another, and their deep listening shine through every track. The first moments of the opening track, Simon’s strings-accented “Nostalgia,” set the stage with a sweet dissonance that evokes the pained pleasure of that state of mind. Blade’s “Kintsukuroi” captures the deft fragility of creation in the Japanese art form that creates beauty from destruction—and what a bass solo. Colley’s blues-tinged title track is moved to a higher plane by Simon’s solo, while the pianist’s “You Are” is itself lifted into another sphere by guest Chris Potter’s sax. Looking for a little neosoul, try “I Wanna Be with You,” cowritten by Simon and guest vocalist Becca Stevens, whose intimate delivery captures the heart-bursting feeling of a love that cannot be expressed. Every spacious track invites the ear and enlivens the heart.

Thélonius García
Marche Nocturne (Indie)
A review
Thélonius García, a French-Dominican-Canadian pianist previously unknown to me, sent me the title track to his solo album, Marche Nocturne, and the composition “Vestiges” a couple of months before the album’s release. I was transfixed by the music’s lush serenity, the vast space between notes, the way it slows time and invites deep introspection. I emailed García, telling him that if the rest of the album’s material was half as lovely as these two pieces, I’d be reviewing it—and here we are. Comprising 16 short, evocative pieces, Marche Nocturne refracts a variety of classical influences, from Satie to Bach, Chopin to Debussy, along with more modern sensibilities and jazz colorations. (Did I really hear him fleetingly graze the edge of ragtime on “Gould,” whose dramatic opening in the bass gives way to a right hand that opens like a bloom?) Along the way, García touches on melancholy, wonder, intimacy, nostalgia. “Je veux vivre avec toi près de la rivière” (“I want to live with you by the river”), with García’s poetry voiced by Quebec actor Pierre Lebeau, is aflame with intimacy. “Incantare” offers lovely wordless lines for Canadian vocalist Canadian Paul Bisson to fill (you may have heard him at a Cirque du Soleil performance). The gently somber “Evocation” wakens a memory and bittersweet nostalgia, while “Planètes soeurs” evokes a sense of wonder. On most every track, García allows the sound to decay naturally into a long silence, giving the listener time to fully absorb the music before moving on. The album’s production offers a richly immersive experience, and focused, appropriately receptive listeners will find themselves moved, altered, and grateful.

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