Mikko Innanen / Cedric Piromalli / Stefan Pasborg: This Is It

When a Finn, a Dane, and a Frenchman take on the organ trio genre expect it to be funky and supercool. And This is It is just that. This new group pivots around Cedric Piromalli's Hammond organ in ways you might expect if you are a fan of the Blue Note 1960s sounds of Big John Patton and Larry Young. Then again This is It also flirts with a combination of go-go boots, prog rock, and some future shock.

Those familiar with the Danish drummer Stefan Pasborg know he likes his jazz served with a side dish of rock and an avant-garde chaser. Together with the Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen, the two have collaborated with Wadada Leo Smith in the band Delirium and on Pasborg's Odessa 5 and Free Moby Dick (ILK Music, 2012). Add Piromalli to that mix and the party ignites.

Switching between baritone, alto, and soprano saxophones, Innanen changes the expression of the trio. His baritone opens "Mocking Bird" with a lament before the organ pushes a spirited groove elation. This change of directions is heard throughout. The prog rock heavy blues of "Manic Zigaman" is contrasted by the Latin tinge of "Søhesten" with Innanen's soprano saxophones hopping amongst Pasborg's cow bell and cymbals. They can also weave a spiritual thread with "Pharoah Favelassa," or burn a noirish path that burns a blue hot flame on "Sudden Happiness." The trio delivers a fragment of future shock with "Autonomus XXVII A: Gneisenaustraße," with twisting soprano notes and nibbling organ bites that hint of a complex labyrinth, before ending with the groovy go-go boots of the Austin Powers-inspired composition "Riding with Cafarelli." It makes you want to blurt out "yeah baby!"

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