Russ Lossing: Proximity Alert

Is Russ Lossing's Proximity Alert more like football or baseball? The analogy works like this: Baseball is fathers and sons tossing a ball in the backyard, measured and casual; Football is a scrimmage, brothers running, grappling and tackling in the same yard.

Throughout his career, Lossing has captained several exceptional trios. With bassist Ed Schuller, he had the rare honor of performing and recording alongside the legendary drummer Paul Motian. In the years that followed, he formed groups with Billy Mintz and Masa Kamaguchi, as well as with bassist John Hébert and a rotation of drummers including Jeff Williams, Adam Kolker and Michael Sarin. His time with Motian, in particular, shaped his appetite for the rough-and-tumble—music that balances discipline with in-the-moment spontaneity. Like a great football team, this approach thrives on structure but leaves room for improvisational sparks.

Proximity Alert is Lossing's second trio outing with bassist Mark Helias and drummer Eric McPherson, following Mood Swing (SteepleChase, 2020). From the opening moments, the music takes on a gridiron energy that sustains throughout the recording. On "Incommunicado," the trio pushes and pulls in shifting directions and tempos, their romping intensity held together by an underlying discipline. "Boo-Da" has the feel of players scrapping on different levels, yet the precision of their interplay makes it sound like the work of a finely-drilled unit. The title track and "Sequenza" best capture the sense of a backyard ruckus—forceful, spirited, but tightly executed.

The album also shows its 'inside baseball' moments. "Emphasis My Own" and "Apostrophe" are abstract explorations that depend on each musician's sharp focus and responsiveness to Lossing's compositions. In this setting, the metaphorical ball never touches the ground. The trio brings the same attentiveness to gentler pieces like the ballad "Lamento" and the brisk bebop-tinged "Rhythmique." The lone group improvisation, "Silent Alarm," connects directly to Lossing's recent solo piano release, Inventions (A Suite of Improvisations) (Songs, 2024), highlighting his ongoing fascination with spontaneous composition.

Ultimately, Proximity Alert thrives on the energy of collective play. One can practice alone—at the batting cages or kicking field goals—but the backyard games are always more satisfying. That spirit of camaraderie and collision, of discipline sharpened by risk, is what makes this trio's music both vital and alive.

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