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John Bishop / Bram Weijters / Piet Verbist: Antwerp
ByAntwerp finds Bishop back in the company of pianist Bram Weijters and bassist Piet Verbist, both of whom played on the previously mentioned Chad McCullough & Bram Weijters outing. We could call this Bishop's Belgian trio.
The setthat includes three compositions from bassist Verbist, three form pianist Weijters, one each from Carla Bley, Hal Galper and Henry Mancinihas a life-affirming, celebratory quality. This is a trio of old friends gathered in Belgium's second-largest city to make jubilant jazz and slip into, as occasionally and unpredictably happens, a communal groove that takes the music to the highest level. Did they come out of the studio saying, "Wow. We nailed it." They could have. This is, according to Bishop, about "Ales, waffles & fries, and many days/nights spent with new then old friends, and celebration from a feeling for a particular place." And the results say everything fell into place. And magic happened.
From the opener, Weijters' rollicking "Ruchsichtslos," to Galper's "Trip the Light Fantastic," rendered here with an introspective flair rather than the note jumbling displayed on the rendition on Galper's previously mentioned album of the same name, to Verbist's extraordinarily pretty "Pointing At The Moon," which features the bassist taking the lead in front of the pianist's deft accompaniment, to Verbist's flamenco-flavored "Bull" to the slow, deliberate, gorgeous take on Mancini's "Two For The Road," showcasing a classic tune to perfection, Antwerp stands out as a blue ribbon piano trio album, certainly one of the year's finest.
Coloring a couple of tunes hereMancini's "Two For the Road" and the closer, Weijter's "Contemplative," dedicated, respectively, to the recently passed mothers of Piet Verbist and John Bishopis a mood characterized by a sadness at the passings that seems ultimately brightened by lovingly effervescent memories.
Just when it seemed that John Bishop might not release another album under his own name, he came up with a jewel. Given the quality and zest heard here, the level of the tunesmithing and musicianship, the joyfully percussive trio dynamic, a string of recordings along the lines of the Hal Galper rubato trio outings seems like a grand idea.
Track Listing
Ruchsichtslos; Trip the Light Fantastic; Pointing At The Moon; Bull; Lawns; The Same Melody; For Less Than Nothing; Two For The Road; Contemplative.
Personnel
Album information
Title: Antwerp | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Origin Records
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John Bishop / Bram Weijters / Piet Verbist
Album Review
Dan McClenaghan
Antwerp
Origin Records
John Bishop
Here
Hal Galper
John Stowell
Chad McCullough
Bram Weijter
a; here
Bram Weijters
Piet Verbist
carla bley
Henry Mancini