The Palomar Trio: The Song in Our Soul

On The Song in Our Soul, the members of the Palomar Trio look over their collective shoulders to a time when swing was king and musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Art Tatum, Ethel Waters, Gene Krupa, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw and many of their peers were household names. In fact, the trio was named in honor of Goodman's legendary 1935 performance at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles, which is widely seen as marking the start of what came to be known as the Swing Era.

As many of the songs heard here are not played often these days, it is good to be reminded of their overall merit and the fact, as noted by the trio, that they deserve a fate better than history's dustbin. After all, they were once a part of life's daily soundtrack and, even though musical tastes have moved on, there is still room in the memory bank for songs as sunny and charming as these.

The trio play each of them with warmth and enthusiasm, as if to say, "yes, they may be old, but they still have a lot to offer." They set out to prove the point by taking a number of near-obsolete themes and breathing new life into them, starting with Waller and Alex Hill's "Keep a Song in Your Soul" and ending with a tune that has, in some measure, withstood the test of time, Mort Dixon and Harry Woods' "River, Stay 'Way from My Door."

Clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Dan Levinson is the trio's melodic center, drummer Kevin Dorn its rhythmic pulse, while pianist Mark Shane deftly straddles both spheres. Together, they reclaim and revitalize eleven Swing Era favorites that deserve to be ransomed and heard again. The trio is clearly up to the task, having been formed more than two decades ago and dedicated since then to refashioning admirable music from the Swing Era that has been sadly overlooked for many years.

Levinson divides his time between clarinet (six numbers) and tenor saxophone (five), Dorn between brushes and sticks. Shane, for his part, plays the sort of piano that is perfectly suitable for every tune. While swing may not be everyone's cup of tea, in this era of rock, pop, heavy metal and whatever else is the music of the day, the Palomar Trio put a fresh new shine on tunes that are entitled to more than musical obsolescence. For that alone, a word of thanks is due.

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