The State of The Piano Trio 2010 (Pt.1): Helge Lien Trio and Trichotomy

If the piano trio format has an imagination, it has been ruled by Bill Evans since he recorded The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings (Riverside) in the summer of 1961. Evans "freed" the trio format from the blues, turning up the amplitude on ballad-based impressionism. The trio has been freed further by the likes of Brad Mehldau, Esbjorn Svensson and the trios of Bill Carrothers and Marc Copland through the incorporation of more original material, signalling a break from a reliance on standards.

The Helge Lien Trio and Trichotomy signal more trio evolution, an evolution that manifests as the shifting dynamics of space, in the sense of pianist Ahmad Jamal and trumpeter Miles Davis, and time, in the sense of pianist Dave Brubeck on acid. This is the new frontier, crafted on the most versatile jazz combo format.

Helge Lien Trio

Hello Troll

Ozella Music

2010

The Scandinavian counties, in particular Norway, have produced a wealth of exceptional jazz musicians and ensembles, saxophonist Jan Garbarek being the first among scores of others. Something about that cool climate tempers the music in such a way to increase the clarity of composition and performance to near presbyoptic levels. Space and time play a big part in this music and the image it adopts. A case in point is the Helge Lien Trio's Hello Troll. This is rarefied trio music vastly extending the language created by Evans, creating a brightly defined tonal vision.

The opening "Gamut Warning" is built around an off-time bass figure, a kind of anti- A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1965) "Acknowledgement" bass-line that is more Job than Isaiah. Lien experiments with string damping effects and spacial arrangements of notes and chords to effect openness and area. Far from hypnotic with the mantra bass-line, "Gamut Warning" provides ample solo space, helping reveal complex and satisfying solo lines of thinking. "Axis Of Free Will" reflects the crescendo introduction of Pete Townsend's "Pinball Wizard," creating a dramatic tautness to the piece that is maintained by Lien's anxious right hand percussively defining the song's direction. Even within the single-note solo does Lien support this taut anxiousness. Empathetically, the band rises and falls at the lead provided by Lien, with his booming bass notes and high register trills. The effect is immediately visceral and urgent. It also is a well integrated piece that readily displays its internal structure well.

"It Is What It Is, But It Is" is a beautifully rendered elegy, possessing the greatest integration on the recording. It is not specifically churchy as often such pieces derive from gospel music. Instead, it is universal with mild dissonances and gentle consonances. Lien's sonic relationship with bassist Berg is complete, carefully captured and presented where each instrument is most uniquely separate, yet perfectly miscible. Berg's solo is densely melodic and evenly rendered. Juxtaposed against "It Is What It Is, But It Is" is "Halla Troll," which possesses equal integrity with the former piece, but is presented in a well-conceived yet chaotic fashion. Drummer Knut Aaleflaet, whose contributions to the trio cannot be overstated, presents his most creative drumming of the disc in the swirling introduction. His tom-tom work is impressive. The entire piece has a Prokofiev feel to it, loud, banging chords, abrupt percussion and a uniquely defiant personality. Think The Love of Three Oranges.

Hello Troll is clean and wide-open trio art. It uses space and time in the creation of velocity, creativity in situ and the moment. Lien is an inquisitive composer searching for new ways to expand the trio repertoire without revisiting often traveled paths. This music is new territory in refined and well considered composition and performance.

Visit Helge Lien Trio on the web.

Trichotomy

Variations

Naim Jazz

2010

Where Helge Lien's Hello Troll illustrated the use of space and time in music on Hello Troll, Trichotomy, on Variations, adds the element of mass to the equation, turning velocity into momentum. Trichotomy is an Australian trio and Variations is its first international release. Made up of pianist Sean Foran, bassist Pat Marchisella and drummer John Parker, Trichotomy tests the boundaries of musical inertia with inventive rhythmic and percussive methods.

The disc opens with Foran's "Island In The Sun." Drummer Parker sets up forward motion with a rim-shot figure that is picked up by Foran and bassist Marchisella. The trio pulls back, slowing down and opening up during the middle section, where an ebb and flow is established. Parker solos percussively, a trend that will continue throughout the disc where the bassist extends his playing from tautly muscular to throbbing abandon. At times Parker's bass sound like an electric guitar, at others buzzing bullets (hear the violent, propulsive blues "Chunk," and think of Flea meeting pianist Cecil Taylor).

Ballads "At The Right Moment," "Please" and "Ascent" display Foran's smooth and light touch and the sympathetic leadership of the rest of the rhythm section. The trio is joined by a strings: violinist Christa Powell and violist Bernard Hoey and alto saxophonist John Babbage on "Start," a reflective morning shower of a chamber piece. "Ascent" extends this chamber sound with trumpeter Peter Knight and electronicist Lawrence English providing assorted effects, giving the piece a space music ambience. More so than Hello Troll, Variations requires greater listening attention that is well paid off in the end.

Visit Trichotomy on the web.

Tracks and Personnel

Hello Troll

Tracks: Gamut Warning; Axis Of Free Will; Radio; Troozee; Diverted Dance; It Is What It Is, But It Is; Halla Troll; Snurt; In The Wind Somewhere.

Personnel: Helge Lien: piano; Frode Berg: bass; Knut Aaleflaet: drums.

Variations

Tracks: Island Of The Sun; At The Right Moment; Branching Out; Start; Ascent; Variations On A Bad Day; Chunk; Please; The Unknown; Labyrinth.

Personnel: Sean Foran: piano; John Parker: drums; Pat Marchisella: acoustic bass; Christa Powell: violin (4); Bernard Hoey: viola (4); John Babbage: alto saxophone (4); Peter Knight: trumpet (5); Lawrence English: electronics (5).

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