Leo Genovese, Demian Cabaud, Marcos Cavaleiro: Estrellero

Leo Genovese's piano can sound like an orchestra. It does as much amidst his voluminous solo work on bassist Demian Cabaud's "Arbol Negro," his thick chords, the density of his playing full and ripe.

From their new trio recording, Estrellero, which also features the light, sympathetic stylings of Marcos Cavaleiro on drums, are five original compositions split between pianist and bassist. The contrast emerges in Genovese's own voice as he marks time with Cabaud's more plodding, abstract pen. "Arbol Negro" is a good example, where the medium-tempo pace drives the reliance on a modal pulse which gives Genovese room to linger with lots of floating chords, akin to the kind of playing McCoy Tyner would dash off in support of his boss John Coltrane, the three in this trio in a kind of trance-like rumination.

The set opens with Cabaud's angular, somewhat frenetic "Qom," giving the impression that an Ornette Coleman flavor might rule the day, Genovese's piano is full of alternate sprinklings which tend to veer off with no harmonic sense while Cabaud's poking basslines keep things grounded. Not so with "Stone Believer," the pianist's melodic sense holding sway on his more sweetly portrayed rendering of the piano jazz trio. Cabaud's "Aquel Lugar" picks up where the opening track seemed to have left off—more scurrying, dancing between the three members, with the bassist's passing pulse and the pianist's slurring chords and scampering single notes remaining bright but once again abstracted. Then there is Cabaud's "Un Rio." In contrast, the vibe is more reflective, the indeterminate pulse like a slow dance where bebop lives but is more undertow, where Genovese seems to be reaching to break free and turn this occasional waltz into a love song. By song's end, he's succeeded.

It is telling that this untypical trio (if there is such a thing as a typical piano trio) is so partly because the soloing is more pronounced through Genovese alone, with the trio, in a sense, soloing as one unit. When there is soloing elsewhere, it is in passing, as with the intro to Genovese's "La Cueva Del Viento," the song's lickety-split pace needing to move on to the whole group's response as the pianist's modus operandi is now full-tilt, get there quick! Right hand and left hand are busy yet still, alternating single notes with busy chords (which may be one of his strengths as a player). The title track features another aspect to this trio's wild spirit as Genovese plays an ancient pump organ.

It all ends with Cabaud's "Dia De La Madre," the bassist's mournful arco intro introducing a somber, yearning conclusion to all that has transpired. More ruminations on an album, as Genovese says: "Estrella" means "star" in Spanish. On the other hand, in Argentina Estrellero refers to a horse that can't be trained completely; "something," he says, "of the animal's wild nature remains... as though trying to break free of human domination. When they look up, they look at the stars... searching for answers, chasing madness."

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