Neal Miner: Invisibility

Here is a jazz trio with a twist: instead of the usual piano, bass and drums—or guitar, bass and drums—Neal Miner's threesome on Invisibility consists of tenor saxophone, bass and drums. While bassist Miner is the nominal leader, the New York City-based trio is a true co-op in which Miner, drummer Jason Tiemann and saxophonist Chris Byars perform distinct yet basically similar tasks.

The trio started working together in 2023, found it shared chemistry and a common purpose, and has been a working group in the Big Apple ever since. Miner doubles as composer and arranger, and the eleven numbers on the album, most of which are based on standards from the Great American Songbook, are his.

Naming those standards is a challenge, as Miner disguises each melody so cleverly that only musicians who are familiar with the chord changes are likely to unlock the puzzle. That, of course, is largely irrelevant, as the music itself and how it is interpreted by the trio is what matters most, and the happy news in that respect is that everyone is fully engaged and more than able to carry out the tasks at hand.

Whatever else applies, Miner's compositions are definitely bop-oriented, as he says he draws much of his inspiration from jazz that prevailed in the 1950s and '60s as exemplified by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Horace Silver, Kenny Clarke, Benny Golson, Tommy Flanagan, Art Farmer and bassist-composers like Ray Brown, Oscar Pettiford, Red Mitchell, Paul Chambers and other groundbreaking members of that fraternity.

Solo space is fairly evenly divided, with Byars shouldering the lion's share of melodic duties as well. He plays a smooth and liquid tenor, reminiscent at times of other early boppers such as Golson, Brew Moore, Frank Wess or Wardell Gray. Miner's charts suit him well, from the shuffling opener (and title song) to the animated "On the High Line," which closes the mostly easygoing and pleasant session.

Even though everyone does their best to make every number fresh and inspiring, there is ony so much that can be achieved by any trio—even one with a tenor saxophone out front. It does not help that tempos throughout are almost invariably slow to moderate. Still and all, a better than average session whose higher moments readily outnumber the lows.