Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Joe McPhee: Trinity

Joe McPhee: Trinity

By AAJ Staff
April 1, 2001
View read count

Even for Joe McPhee, Trinity is a far-ranging record. He writes in the liner notes (genuinely, I'm sure) that in this spare trio setting, "the area I wanted to work became more defined." In fact, that area is about as broad as you can possibly imagine. McPhee delivers animalistic howls, plaintive melodies, and bluesy ramble, each in turn. Meanwhile, the group sound spans from free-range "space" music with vocals to high-intensity Tayloresque energy over punchy drums. Each duo combination is explored at length, winding in and out of trio improvisation. In the grand culmination, a passage of military marching beats leads into ironic silence.

The divergent styles on Trinity merge into a coherent whole through the sense that this group is simply allowing improvisation to guide their voyage. Very little of the music on this disc sounds "planned"—and as a result, it's the conversational open-endedness of Trinity that shines. Though I wouldn't recommend this disc to listeners without an ear for the unpredictable, it's an admirable document of rare creativity. Those few owners of the highly-compressed 1972 original LP will take heart in the expanded sonics of this reissue.

Track Listing

Ionization; Astral Spirits; Delta.

Personnel

Joe McPhee

woodwinds

Joe McPhee: tenor and soprano saxophones, trumpet, pocket cornet; Mike Kull: piano and electric piano; Harold E. Smith: percussion.

Album information

Title: Trinity | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Atavistic Worldwide

About Joe McPhee

PREVIOUS / NEXT

David Hazeltine: Milwaukee's Best Be...
< Previous

Meet Bill Charlap
Next >

Joe McPhee Concerts

Nov 3 Tue

Joe Mcphee | Steve Swell | Mark Tokar | Klaus Kugel +...

Pardon, To Tu
Warsaw, Poland

Become a Sustaining Member

Since 1995, All About Jazz has championed jazz as an art form and supported the musicians who create it. Over three decades, it has grown into one of the world's leading jazz resources, serving hundreds of thousands of readers, musicians, presenters and industry professionals each month.

Help Build the Future of All About Jazz

Your support helps us continue building All About Jazz for the next generation—expanding our editorial coverage, preserving jazz history, developing new community features and creating better ways to discover the music and the people behind it.

Become a sustaining member for as little as $20 per year and you'll immediately enjoy an ad-free experience along with access to subscriber features and future articles for a full year.

Together, we're not simply sustaining All About Jazz—we're building its future. Thank you for being part of the journey.