Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Greg Burk: Ivy Trio

331

Greg Burk: Ivy Trio

By

View read count
Greg Burk: Ivy Trio
Time can be a funny thing. Recorded prior to his last trio disc, Nothing, Knowing (482 Music, 2005), Greg Burk's Ivy Trio shares more in common than just format. Ivy Trio provides alternate views of three Burk originals—"Look to the Neutrino, "Blink to Be and "Operetta —but with a trio featuring bassist Jonathan Robinson and drummer Luther Gray in place of Nothing, Knowing's higher-profile rhythm team of bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Bob Moses. The tunes are well worth revisiting—or perhaps more appropriately in this case, foreshadowing.

That Robinson plays double-bass in contrast to Swallow's electric instrument would be enough to give Ivy Trio a different complexion, especially when Robinson brings out his bow, as he does briefly during the free-sounding middle section of Burk's introspective "Ducks and Gulls and an equally oblique passage on "Blink to Be. But it's not all obscurity and abstraction. Robinson and Gray swing firmly on Burk's "Dumbo's Dilemma, where the pianist is as unfettered as ever, but more in-the-tradition than usual.

It's curious then, yet wholly appropriate, that the only non-original of the set—Charlie Parker's "Billie's Bounce —manages to be familiar but quirky, with Burk playing the head the way an even more idiosyncratic Thelonious Monk might have. Robinson and Gray move seamlessly from a more straightforward swing to greater elasticity, at once responding to Burk and pushing the pianist into freer territory.

Burk's always been more directly aligned with Paul Bley than other iconic pianists like Bill Evans. Still, Burk has always been the type of pianist to incorporate a wide array of references, although by now they're completely subsumed into a personal voice and open-minded conception. In some ways, Burk recalls the recently-departed Andrew Hill—not stylistically, but conceptually—in the way that he similarly skirts the edges of convention and experimentation; never totally "out, but rarely ever totally "in either.

Of the three tracks that intersect Ivy Trio with Nothing, Knowing, it's "Look to the Neutrino that's the most surprising, with Burk's piano either prepared or processed to sound more trebly, and his use of synthesizer to solo over the tune's repetitive figure. Some might bemoan Burk's use of technology, but in a time when it's becoming increasingly accepted as part of an ever-broadening sonic palette, the obvious question is: why not?

Since emerging in the late 1990s, Burk has proven himself an artist well worth watching, with a small but impressive discography of his own, and with the stylistically intrepid Either/Orchestra. Both assert a continually developing style that's focused, yet still something of a moving target. With Ivy Trio and the solo The Way In (482 Music, 2006) recorded four years ago, however, let's hope a new record, recorded more recently, is in the offing. Four years is a long time, and where Burk is now may well be anybody's guess.

Track Listing

Look to the Neutrino; Blink to Be; Dumbo

Personnel

Greg Burk
piano

Greg Burk: piano, Moog synthesizer (1); Jonathan Robinson: bass; Luther Gray: drums.

Album information

Title: Ivy Trio | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: 482 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.