Alex Jenkins Trio: Black Bird

An initial spin of Sacramento-based drummer Alex Jenkins' Black Bird—recorded by the Alex Jenkins Trio (AJT)—brings saxophonist Sonny Rollins' A Night At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1958) to mind. Rollins rolled in the trio mode for these 1957 Vanguard shows with just his saxophone, bass and drums. Going on stage in 1957 without a chording instrument—a guitar or piano—was unusual. The album was considered groundbreaking. Now the pared-down trio format is common, for good reason—dropping the necessity of chasing chords around allows a lot of space and freedom.

Drummer Alex Jenkins, in his second trio go-around, Black Bird, opens the set pushing a controlled bluster sound with the Great American Songbook classic, "That Old Devil Moon," a tune that—not coincidentally—Rollins included in his A Night At The Village Vanguard. Elvin Jones sat in the drummer's chair in Rollins' trio that night, crafting loose-limbed rhythmic bustle. Jenkins, on his take on the tune, does the same thing, in his way, bustling in an energetic, off-center way. Bassist Alex Reiff gives that bustle a bounce and reedist Levi Saelua—who also plays alto sax and clarinet elsewhere on the set—settles into a robust tenor sax sound here.

"Blackbird," the Lennon/McCartney tune, follows the rousing devil moon. It is a tune that jazz musicians seem to love. Brad Mehldau is fond of it, including a terrific version on his multiple disc release, Ten Years Solo Live (Nonesuch, 2015); and drummer Tony Williams delivered an inspired version on his marvelous and overlooked The Story of Neptune (Blue Note, 1992), featuring Wallace Roney on trumpet. Sandwiched between this familiar fare we find reedman Saelua's "Justin Montaney," featuring a languid yet relentless groove.

The thing with the "no chording guy trio" is this. The bass and drums cannot relax into a supportive sideman roll. They need to bring distinction to the sound. Reiff brings in a muscularity/delicacy dynamic; Jenkins, influenced by his study of the tabla, injects consistent surprises into the music, the way Jon Christensen and Paul Motian did it in their days.

Black Bird stands out in the chordless trio game, with a mix of compelling originals and nicely chosen covers. The trio closes the show the way they opened it—with a song Sonny Rollins played on his visit to the Vanguard all those years ago: Cole Porter's" "What Is This Thing Called Love," with a relaxed yet insistent groove, closing things out by letting the good old times roll.

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