Trio S: Somewhere Glimmer

New York-based clarinetist, banjoist, Doug Wieselman (Lou Reed, Bill Frisell, Yuka Honda) is often immersed within the new music realm, including jazz and most of its offshoots. Highly in demand, the artist also composes for theater and TV. With Trio S' second release, he skirts the boundaries of ambient-electronic stylizations, jazz, folk and modern chamber, with cellist Jane Scarpantoni, and first-call drummer, percussionist Kenny Wolleson.

The trio fuses an acoustic-electric array of exquisite, delicate and artful melodic inventions into an organic mélange, even with Wieselman's tasteful use of loops and processing techniques. In addition, Wolleson's arsenal of tiny cymbals, devices and use of mallets, add texture and multicolored backdrops along with his sensitively rendered rhythmic output.

These pieces are framed on nature and various places of interest. The artists present wraithlike panoramas along with slices of Americana, beautifully contrasted by Scarpantoni's solemn notes and dainty shadings. Whereas, many of these pieces offer simple melodic hooks and pensive dreamscapes. But "Dreambox," is a folksy etude via Wieselman's gently strumming banjo phrasings and the cellist's melancholic passages that spur notions of a soundtrack for an American Civil War documentary.

Wiesleman integrates Middle Eastern modalities into the mix. Although they execute another homespun banjo-driven piece "Hallucination of a Storm," that flows into a harmonious theme, offset by Scarpantoni's austere lines and Wolleson's rolling pulses. Here, the cellist vividly juxtaposes the clarinetist's mellow-toned, but peppery banjo work.

The final track "Birdbath," features a nuanced primary motif, designed with Wieselman's cyclical 4-note riff that traverses an ever-so-delicate path, textured by Wolleson's sophisticated percussion patterns. Simply stated, Somewhere Glimmer is a picturesque, quietly uplifting and impassioned listening experience.

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