Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Trio Beyond: Saudades
Trio Beyond: Saudades
ByDrummer Jack DeJohnette, guitarist John Scofield and keyboardist Larry Goldings ensure that Williams' revolutionary work is given a facelift that's reverent but speaks with its own voice. Culling material from Lifetime's Emergency! (Polydor, 1969) and Turn It Over (Polydor, 1970), and dipping into the repertoire of Lifetime organist Larry Young and iconic bandleader Miles Daviswho first brought Williams to prominenceTrio Beyond's purview is broader than Lifetime's ever was.
DeJohnette and Williams were contemporaries, so there's no denying that cross-pollination occurred. Williams swung hard, and here DeJohnette is as raucous as he's ever sounded, approaching John Coltrane's "Big Nick with a muscularity rarely heard from him these days. Always a malleable player, DeJohnette keeps the time profoundly elusive yet undeniably clear on the ballad "I Fall in Love Too Easily.
A decade his junior, Scofield couldn't help but be influenced by Lifetime guitarist John McLaughlin's seemingly unschooled but, in reality, highly studied approach to aggressive jazz guitar. Scofield has rarely played with this level of energy and angularity, especially when the trio's take on McLaughlin's knotty "Spectrum breaks down mid-stream. With his own harmonic approach, Scofield applies a host of electronic processing to take his instrument to places McLaughlin simply couldn't have visited.
At 38, Larry Goldings is the same age as Young was when he died tragically in 1978. Young's more abstract modality figures more in Goldings' approach than the soul jazz of Jimmy Smith or Jack McDuff.
Reaching Lifetime's sonic levels on "Emergency and "Spectrum, Trio Beyond also shines in its reinvention of material Williams played during his tenure with Miles. "Seven Steps to Heaven opens with a powerful vamp that sets up the familiar theme, played with unexpectedly staggered time and an energy that leads into Scofield's hard-hitting solo, supported by an unrepentant DeJohnette and Goldings' in-the-stratosphere accompaniment.
While Trio Beyond demonstrates more finesse than Lifetime, it would be a mistake to consider this a more conventional group. There's nothing polite about it, and Saudades demonstrates that when you bring together three players with a common goal, the resultant chemistry can make for music that's both visceral and cerebral. With a European tour this year and dates lining up for 2007, it looks like Trio Beyond will be around for awhilewhich is good news for those who want to hear three players at the absolute top of their game.
Visit Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, Larry Goldings and Universal Classics on the web.
Track Listing
CD1: If; As One; Allah Be Praised; Saudades; Pee Wee; Spectrum. CD2: Seven Steps to Heaven; I Fall in Love Too Easily; Love in the Blues; Big Nick; Emergency.
Personnel
Jack DeJohnette: drums; John Scofield: guitars; Larry Goldings: Hammond organ, electric piano, sampler.
Album information
Title: Saudades | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: ECM Records
< Previous
Descarga Oriental: The New York Sessions
Next >
The Cool Side of the Pillow