Fabian Willman Trio: Balance

Based solely on over ten years playing with the brilliant pianist/composer Brad Mehldau, drummer Jeff Ballard brings a certain cachet with him. Aiding in no small measure to retain a purity that mirrors the cover graphics (by Doris Reimann) as much as this album title, he lends as much (more?) distinction to his work on Fabian Willman's Balance as in previous collaborations with keyboardist Chick Corea and saxophonist Joshua Redman.

Rightly sublimating his well-honed skills to the Berlin saxophonist/composer on his debut album, the veteran drummer bonds unobtrusively in a rhythm section with bassist Arne Huber as well as his other bandmates throughout the roughly thirty-five minute duration of this album. In doing so, he and his compatriots are proffering an object lesson in how individual talent(s) may be enhanced in a complementary group setting.

Based on the uninterrupted flow of imaginative ideas that comprise its seven cuts, there should really be no surprise the core threesome covers so much ground on numbers such as "Murmuration." But it's in keeping with the cryptic title of that cut that the softly streamlined motion of the three musicians runs parallel throughout that number and the LP as a whole: their level of anticipation is that acute. But then on the equally gentle "Intro," placed just prior in the track sequence, the ensemble unveiled this very same approach and its collective delicacy belies the authority the musicians radiate from start to finish on this title.

Such is the deceptive strength Willman, Huber and Ballard share that alto saxophonist Asger Nissen 's appearance on consecutive cuts only serves to consolidate the unity of tone. It's wholly appropriate "Last Song" is the longest cut on this record at 6:46: it allows this fourth musician to assimilate himself into the flow of invention. Having done that, the very next track crackles with energy, albeit a most understated sort, as the quartet actively relishes the altered dynamic of the four piece alignment; here it is Jeff Ballard takes a kinetic drum break that simply reaffirms what a low profile he maintains elsewhere.

Producing along with label co-founder Sarah Chaksad (and Willman himself), Patrick Zosso recorded these five originals by the tenor man (plus one by Huber and another by David Mann and Redd Evans) on two dates in 2021. The engineer's mixing and mastering preserves the unadorned simplicity at the heart of this music, not to mention the fresh spontaneity of real-time inspiration. A most auspicious start for an enterprise aiming for progressive credibility, this is already one of the most unassuming albums of 2022 and may end up being as one of the Best of the Year as well.

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