Mike Catalano: A Trio Affair

There is something comforting about the way Mike Catalano's A Trio Affair brings his musical trilogy to a close. This release returns to where the story began in 1989 with A Rio Affair, followed 18 years later by A Manhattan Affair. Listening to this album, it feels as if Catalano is less interested in revisiting those albums than in recalling what he liked about them, namely the meeting of New York jazz and Brazilian rhythms.

Catalano has also surrounded himself with musicians from his musical journey, making this feel less like a studio project and more like a reunion of old friends. Drummer Steve Gadd, bassists Eddie Gomez and Will Lee, form the central rhythmic core. Guest drummer Clint de Ganon, trumpeter Randy Brecker, saxophonist Lou Marini, arranger and orchestrator Rob Mounsey, percussionists Bashiri Johnson, Armando Marcal and Marivaldo dos Santos, and standout guitarist Bob Mann all add their distinctive voices, resulting in eleven tracks full of small surprises.

The session opens with "Night Side Up" as Catalano settles into a straight-ahead jazz setting. Gadd brushes the drums with a wonderfully light touch, and soon Gomez, Brecker, and Marini take the music for a ride. "Bluesy" takes a trip to Manhattan's Upper West Side without overplaying the memory. The blues have a lived-in quality here, set by Catalano's thoughtful playing, with Brecker taking cover with his muted horn. Gomez offers an extended solo, confirming that he remains one of jazz's most inventive bassists.

"Remember When (Marcio's Theme)" is one of the album's more personal tracks, written by Catalano in 6/8 for the late Brazilian trumpeter Marcio Montarroyos. Catalano and Brecker share the melody, while Gadd, Gomez, Marini, and trombonist Birch Johnson deepen the rhythmic and harmonic conversation. Marini's horn arrangement gives the piece its distinctive lift. Next comes "Bossa Avenue," the first Brazilian-influenced performance, featuring a lovely samba beat. Catalano's soft touch reflects the influence of Antonio Carlos Jobim and sets the number's relaxed tone. Brecker's warm flugelhorn, Marini's buoyant flute, and Mann's nylon-string guitar keep everything cosy and understated.

The four consecutive tracks under consideration show particularly well how Catalano moves between two sides of his musical personality. "Just A Little Samba" has the easy give-and-take of musicians who know how to settle into a Brazilian groove without forcing it. From there, Ivan Lins' "Dois Córregos" strips everything back to Catalano's solo piano, letting his touch and feeling for the melody speak for themselves. "Take Me Back to Rio" brings the rhythm section into the picture, with de Ganon, Lee and Mounsey on shakers, giving the music a relaxed, rolling pulse. Another Lins gem, "Lembra de Mim (Remember Me)," closes the sequence with an intimate conversation between Catalano and Gomez. Together, these pieces move naturally from the rhythmic to the reflective and perhaps capture better than anything else what Catalano has been exploring throughout this trilogy.

With fewer than one hundred days between now and Christmas Day, perhaps Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here," an unexpected choice, isn't entirely out of place. Catalano, Lee on fretless bass, Brecker on flugelhorn, Johnson on wind chimes, and Dos Santos on triangle lend the familiar tune a gentle, slightly floating quality, while de Ganon's presence beneath keeps the album in a reflective mood.

Although the album may mark the end of a trilogy, it is not an ending in spirit. Catalano has taken four decades of friendships, influences and musical memories and transformed them into something remarkably alive.