Greg Burk: Sound Neighbors

Just as they say in real estate, "location, location, location," the same can be said for the piano trio of Greg Burk, bassist Ron Seguin, and drummer Michel Lambert. Recorded in Rome, where the American Burk now makes his home, Sound Neighbors reunites the pianist with the Canadians Seguin (also a resident of Rome) and Lambert, who were last heard on Burk's Many Worlds (482 Music, 2009) with Henry Cook.

The music does travel well, meaning that locating the inspiration for these tracks obliges one to abandon some preconceptions. This is not just a piano trio. Recording with Lambert, who can often be heard with saxophonist François Carrier, might be a clue that his role in the trio will be more than a drummer. He plays the maïkotron on couple of tracks. It is a woodwind that has a reed mouthpiece plus trumpet valves with parts from a clarinet and euphonium. Heard on "Aphelion" and "On The Wet," Lambert channels the trio into sonic outer-spaceways that inspire Burk to manipulate the insides of his piano and Seguin to abandon traditional time keeping. If these sounds are not from your area code, the trio sounds very Bill Evans-like with the beautiful "Bimini," and Burk drops in Thelonious Monk quotations on "Scoop Extensions." Elsewhere, the title track is an exercise in momentum, one that finds grace in a gangly lollop and "Quatorze" a quiet meditation that levitates both body and soul. This is one special trio.