Igor Lumpert Trio: Innertextures Live (2012)

GLENN ASTARITA,

Glenn Astarita

Senior Contributor since 1997

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

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Published: October 4, 2012

Track review of "Open the Safe!"

Slovenia-reared tenor saxophonist Igor Lumpert hurdles and leaps onto the progressive jazz radar with his inaugural solo effort for Portugal's highly respected and progressive record label, Clean Feed Records. This live release, featuring a prominent New York City-based rhythm section, highlights the leader's sophisticated outgrowths via the bustling frameworks, often designed with ascending cadences, brisk bop vamps, subtle explorations and linear progressions. With all-universe drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Christopher Tordini often providing volcanic support, Lumpert gets a lot of mileage out of the core jazz trio format.

Kinetic energy amid capacious hues and shades, meld with ballsy stylizations throughout. On "Open The Safe," Lumpert conveys a host of intricacies with odd-metered rhythmic pacing and mesmeric variances in pitch. Cohesive, yet full of split-second surprises, the artist injects cunningly deceptive tactics. The band segues into hyper-mode bop, where the saxophonist takes his time building a new theme, yielding a bit of food for thought, as Tordini tempers the flow with a searching solo and takes matters down to a near whisper. The trio closes the piece with the complex primary motif, while producing the maximum level of entertainment along the way. Indeed, Lumpert communicates guile, patience, a broad jazz vernacular and a crafty sense of the dynamic.

Personnel: Igor Lumpert: tenor saxophone; Christopher Tordini: double bass; Nasheet Waits: drums.

Record Label: Clean Feed Records
Style: Free Improv/Avant-Garde