Lynne Arriale (piano); Jasper Somsen (bass); Jasper Van Hulten (drums) + Kate McGarry (vocal on Take it With Me).
(Review by Lance)
I don't think I've ever encountered a piano trio where two thirds of the players were called Jasper. In fact, I'd probably be hard pushed to find a trio where even one of them had been christened Jasper. Jasper! parents eh?
Still what's in a name? Both Jaspers know their way around and provide Lynne Arriale with the support and drive to make this just about as good as it gets.
The easy option for a piano trio is to play standards and hope that they can do it better than Peterson, Garner, Shearing, Bud Powell, Mel Powell, Richie Powell, Clive Powell and a hundred others who aren't called Powell. Did I say that is the easy option? The alternative is to compose the tunes yourself and make them sound as if they'd been composed by a proper composer which is even harder. However, the hardest task of all is to compose the music and make it sound like nobody else but you.
Arriale has mastered that trick just as Chopin did all those years ago.
Six of the nine tracks are her babies. The other three are surrogates by Joni Mitchell, Lennon & Macca and Tom Waits. The latter has a sensitive vocal by Kate McGarry.
This, it seems, is Lynne's 15th album - where I have I been all these years? I'm going to have to do some back catalogue catch up.
Lance
Woodstock; Appassionata; Finding Home; Give Us these Days; Slightly Off Center; Another Sky; Let it Be; Over and Out; Take it With Me.
Check the album out here.
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