Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » The Lynne Arriale Trio: Come Together

167

The Lynne Arriale Trio: Come Together

By

View read count
The Lynne Arriale Trio: Come Together
Anyone who can keep a jazz trio intact for ten years, as pianist Lynne Arriale has done, deserves a medal for doing nothing more than that. But Arriale does more. For one thing, she plays flawlessly, as one would expect from someone who has caressed the keyboard as long as she has; for another, she composes and arranges; and last but not least, she charts the course that the trio will follow.

On Come Together, the path Arriale has chosen is one of freshness and originality, canvassing half a dozen of her own compositions, a pair of traditional themes and John Lennon/Paul McCartney's shuffling title selection. Arriale, bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis work seamlessly together—no surprise there either—and if there is any complaint to be made, and a small one at that, it would be with the choice of material. Arriale's compositions are essentially admirable, but any resemblance between them and better-known jazz or popular standards is negligible. The time-honored motifs "Red Is the Rose" (a.k.a. "Loch Lomond") and "Iko, Iko," with its charismatic New Orleans ambiance, are intrinsically more interesting than their counterparts.

But regardless of what she is playing, Arriale pours her heart and soul into the enterprise, a posture that is arguably more important than the basic structure of the song itself, and one with which no reasonable onlooker could find fault. Arriale's technique is beyond reproach, and she uses it to enhance the natural warmth and intelligence of her approach to music in general and jazz in particular. One can't ask for more than that.

Even though the music is at times less than mesmerizing, Arriale's accomplished trio clears that hurdle and celebrates its tenth anniversary in style, making the arduous seem effortless while emphasizing the best qualities in every number. They comprise a formidable team, which one hopes may endure beyond a silver or even a golden anniversary.

Track Listing

1. Come Together 2. Home 3. Braziliana 4. Red is the Rose 5. Sunburst 6. Flamenco 7. Iko, Iko 8. Sea and Sand 9. Twilight

Personnel

Lynne Arriale - piano; Steve Davis - drums; Jay Anderson - bass

Album information

Title: Come Together | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Motema Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.