Matt Panayides: With Eyes Closed

This is a charming recording: reflective, tranquil and built around the compositions of some of the most distinguished players and composers of what ought to be called the American Jazz Songbook. Here you have music written by Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Cedar Walton and Chick Corea, to name only the figures in one strain. If taste runs to Jimmy van Huesen, Frank Foster, Henry Mancini, or Jules Stein, well, that is more than adequately covered. Pianoless trios are hardly a novelty anymore, but Matt Panayides, Steve LaSpina and Anthony Pinciotti combine about as gracefully as a listener could want. The world is frantic; the recording is a welcome respite. And this is not dinner jazz or something of that ilk.

Listen to the deft interplay between guitar, bass and drums—harmonic and rhythmic—on "Ju Ju" or "Nefertiti." The recording may be titled With Eyes Closed but that is probably not a good strategy for the ears. LaSpina's chops and Scott LaFaro-like lines mesh well with Panayides' acoustic reflections, all moved along by Pinciotti's tastefully understated drumming, especially on "Ju-Ju," where Pinciotti plays the bass drum in an extended solo without shaking the bookshelves on which the speakers may be resting. "Serenity" is hard- swinging but never boisterous with Panayides as the lead voice. The recording may be an act of conversation, but it is a witty one, as collective improvisation ideally is. Everybody has lots of chops, clearly, but they are deployed in the service of artistry, not showing off. Nice touch, as Miles Davis used to say, is a mild understatement.

Someone might be pardoned for wondering if "Moon River" and "Darn That Dream" are really going to work with the rest of the repertoire? "Moon River" turns out to be a solo vehicle for Panayides, and a very original one in which no one will remember Andy Williams. Panayides and LaSpina get together on "Darn that Dream." Here LaSpina's arco on the bass is quite musical and affecting, the perfect foil to Panayides rubato, slightly held-back phrasing. So, yes, musicianship and good taste basically bridge gaps in genre and generation. Good players can make anything sound pretty, and this trio is composed of nothing if not very good players.