Charlotte Greve / Vinnie Sperrazza / Chris Tordini: The Choir Invisible

The music on The Choir Invisible, presented by the musical equilateral triangle of saxophonist Charlotte Greve, drummer Vinnie Sperrazza and bassist Chris Tordini, presents the ear with a simple yet often intense beauty. Three strong sonic personalities exploring uncluttered territory. The trio, all of whom are busy members of the New York City jazz scene, formed their The Choir Invisible in 2017. This eponymous album is their first recording.

When the subject of an alto sax, bass and drums band is mentioned, Ornette Coleman always comes to mind. A flexible music untethered by a chordal instrument. But The Choir Invisible is more melodic, less angular, more elastic in approach, and the three players share an equality of input in the creations of the sounds.

Songwriting duties are shared. Greve claims the first three slots: the uplifting, insistently mysterious "Chant," the beautiful, brief, searching "These Materials," giving way to "Low," with its ominous bass/drums dirge. "1.7," from Tordini's pen, has a less-than-planet-Earth gravitational pull, with Greve's mesmeric alto sax riffing, while drummer Sperrazza's "Change You Name" drifts in a dreamlike atmosphere.

Tordini's "e(" opens with a deliberate bass solo that gathers momentum before Greve blows in with a catchy melody. Greve's "Daily Task" is presented as a slightly fractured, stop-and-start story, and the set's title tune is one of the more pensive—and perhaps the prettiest—four minutes of the album, a time-stands-still reverie that serves as the perfect closer for The Choir Invisible's debut.