Harris Eisenstadt: September Trio (2011)

GLENN ASTARITA,

Glenn Astarita

Senior Contributor since 1997

Longtime contributor to AAJ and Downbeat, Jazz Review, EjazzNews, Radio DirectX.

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Published: August 23, 2011

Track review of "September 1"

In the global jazz community, drummer Harris Eisenstadt has spiraled to prominence via his technical capacities and insightful compositional prowess via large and small ensembles. His musicality supersedes that of most drummers, where he takes a holistic approach to variable tangents and architectures. With his September trio, armed with an equally prominent support system, Eisenstadt charts the mood or biorhythms of September, 2010, capturing and propagating a broad plane of sentiment, executed at either slow or medium-tempo processions.

"September 1," the album opener, elicits meditations of a late-night vibe, treated by a tepid breeze. Here, tenor sax titan Ellery Eskelin Ellery Eskelin
b.1959
saxophone incorporates semi-free blues choruses atop the leader's sensitive drumming, spiced with a motivational type force. Angelica Sanchez Angelica Sanchez

piano ' cyclical and sometimes fragmented piano phrasings offer a circular perimeter indented with jagged edges.

The trio generates a lightly buoyant plot that may emanate from an inspirational fact or idea, with Eisenstadt dancing and darting across the kit to accentuate Eskelin's yearning notes amid a spirited discussion. "September 1" is an impressionistic piece, funneled through the looking glass of art.

Personnel: Harris Eisenstadt: drums, compositions; Ellery Eskelin: tenor saxophone; Angelica Sanchez: piano.

Record Label: Clean Feed Records
Style: Modern Jazz