Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Clay Giberson: Spaceton's Approach

421

Clay Giberson: Spaceton's Approach

By

Sign in to view read count
Clay Giberson: Spaceton's Approach
There's much to be said for holding a band together over the course of years and performances and album/CD releases, honing the familiarity, comfort level and the intricacies of interplay. Think of the two great Miles Davis Quintets, or Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio.

There's also a lot to be said for the one-off affairs, the freshness and spontaneity and energy of a group of like-minded artists getting together for a single recording.

Pianist Clay Giberson's working unit is the Upper Left Trio, a Portland, Oregon-based group that has put out three fine CDs on Origin Records, this in addition to three solo discs on the label. On Spaceton's Approach the pianist gets together with two musicians he'd worked with in New York in the earlier days of his career, bassist David Ambrosio and drummer Matt Garrity.

Of the seven tunes on the disc, five are Giberson originals and two come from the standards catalog, beginning with a buoyant nine minute exploration of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "It Might As Well Be Spring." The beautiful, familiar melody is treated with respect as the trio stretches out, displaying a lively chemistry and an empathic equilibrium.

Giberson's own compositions, beginning with "From the Outside," are engagingly melodic and inventive, with the pianist showing off a sometimes strong and succinct, sometimes gentle touch with a waxing and waning intensity and momentum.

The title tune has a bit of a modern and edgy feel. Giberson dances over a smoldering rhythm—a bass heartbeat and low thunder rumble of drums punctuated by cymbal lightning flashes as the intensity level builds before a fade into a restrained yet rollicking Garrity drum solo. "Trust" has the group working in a more introspective mode. It's another attractive Giberson composition, with a melody that sounds as if it could come from the Great American Songbook.

Miles Davis' "Solar" gets a thirteen minute treatment here. The trio unwinds a crisp-but-fluid take on the always modern-sounding tune. A high level of three-way spontaneity reigns, with Ambrosio in the groove and Garrity sizzling behind Giberson's keyboard.

Clay Giberson's Spaceton's Approach is his finest outing to date—one of the top piano trio efforts of the year.

Track Listing

It Might As Well Be Spring; From the Outside; Spaceton's Approach; Trust; Passing By; Solar; Beyond the Horizon.

Personnel

Clay Giberson
keyboards

Clay Giberson: piano; David Ambrosio: bass; Matt Garrity: drums.

Album information

Title: Spaceton's Approach | Year Released: 2008 | Record Label: Origin Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.