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John Ruocco: Am I Asking Too Much?
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Am I Asking Too Much? is an intimate trio affair with British pianist John Taylor and Italian bassist Riccardo Del Fra. Taylor and Del Fra aren't strangers to each othertheir 2002 trio disc Overnight, with trumpeter Kenny Wheeler on the defunct Sketch label, was a sadly overlooked gem, and the same chemistry brought to that project is on equal view here. Ruocco, who restricts himself solely to clarinet, may be the titular leader, but this is collaboration of equals with delineated solos of decided strength. Still, it's the constant give-and-take that makes these six Ruocco compositions stand out as a combination of the familiar and the unpredictable, all in a nuanced chamber jazz setting that renders palatable even the most adventurous trialogues.
Ruocco's music often starts in a lyrical place with a gentle pulse and elegant tenor, but the trio isn't afraid to take things farther out by being on the lookout for the subtlest of suggestions. Taylor's accompaniment picks up on Ruocco's slightest dynamic shifts and linear flurries, moving the foundation increasingly left of center alongside Del Fra, for Ruocco's solo on the initially soft waltz "Little Stones."
Taylor's harmonic approach has always been sophisticated, but in recent years he's also achieved a greater stream-of-consciousness aesthetic that remains distinctly incorporative of his musical surroundings. Whirlpool (Cam Jazz, 2008) was an exercise in group interaction, but with Taylor unequivocally at the helm. Here, with Ruocco's deceptive writing positioning the musical terrain, the pianist may be even more impressive in his instant recognizability despite fitting seamlessly into a group approach that straddles the line between rich melodism and whimsical idiosyncrasy.
As refined and linked to the jazz tradition as the music isboth harmonically and with its paradoxically pervasive yet occasionally elusive sense of swingthe trio sometimes creates music like a house of cards. The pulse of "A Glimmer" is clear at the outset but soon dissolves into a free-thinking three-way exchange---no single instrument defining, but together uncannily implying, the rhythm throughout.
It's the very feeling that the whole thing could fall apart at any momentbut doesn'tthat makes Am I Asking Too Much? such a captivating listen. With palpable risk-taking permeating the entire set, Ruocco, Taylor and Del Fra demonstrate one needn't be abstruse or oblique to convey the sound of surprise.
Track Listing
Kuk Kuk; Am I Asking Too Much (If I Ask For World Peace); A Glimmer; Benebe; Waltz 4; Little Stones.
Personnel
John Ruocco: clarinet; John Taylor: piano; Riccardo del Fra: bass.
Album information
Title: Am I Asking Too Much? | Year Released: 2008 | Record Label: Pirouet Records
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