By Nick Metzger

NYC pianist John Blum dropped one in every of my favourite albums in current reminiscence
with 2020’s
“Duplicity”,
in a duo with the legendary drummer Jackson Krall. It was a welcome entry
within the notoriously delicious – but criminally scant – John Blum
back-catalog, and now only a few years eliminated Relative Pitch releases this
flamethrower, discovering Blum in a trio with fellow legends and musical
provocateurs David Murray and Chad Taylor. Earlier than Duplicity Blum had been
quiet on the releases entrance for the higher a part of a decade regardless of being
extraordinarily lively within the scene, his prior releases being 2009’s solo Who
Begat Eye and trio Within the Shade of Solar with William Parker and the late
Sunny Murray (an album launched by Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label).
On that observe, 2023 additionally noticed the discharge of a 3rd set of solo items
titled 9
Rivers which captures a 2013 efficiency and got here out on ESP-Disk
earlier this Fall. In case you’re a fan of Blum and/or like what you hear right here,
it’s a should purchase. David Murray actually wants no introduction, an NYC loft
scene cornerstone who’s now

mentoring a brand new era

of jazz musicians from the Empire Metropolis, he’s performed with nearly
everybody price mentioning and has over 150 albums to his title. He sounds as
fierce as ever right here, all the time prepared to push and go the additional distance, his
type and tone all his personal. And at last Chad Taylor, this era’s
reply to Billy Higgins. Taylor is nearly past prolific, displaying up each
the place you’ll and would least count on him to. He’s a marvelous and
creative drummer who brings an additional dimension to any report he’s on. With The Recursive Tree the trio lays down nearly as good a piano-sax-drums album as
you are prone to hear anyplace.

On the primary monitor “Fireplace within the Branches” the trio erupts into movement,
teeming with heavy gesticulation and fiery rhetoric. Blum’s enjoying is
characteristically fleet with intricate,lightning-fast proper hand runs and
crushing chord blows. Murray growls and warbles inside the framework set by
the piano, filling in area but in addition consistently pushing to the edges.
Taylor is unimaginable, his sense of swing and countless inventiveness
multiplies the open-ended prospects, making it conceivable for issues to
activate a dime. On “Kinetic Crawl” Blum and Taylor set up a rolling
rhythm that’s in turns brutal and delicate, like lace from metal wire.
Murray’s enjoying ranges from jagged and virtually disjointed to easily
flowing traces that subtly monitor the aggression within the rhythm. On “Passage”
Taylor begins tentatively with an elementary beat that intensifies right into a
development of metrical and timbral motions. Murray’s traces whip in and
across the steady eruption of notes from Blum. “Hidden Thorns” feels
moody and agitated because the trio’s tentative begin explodes right into a rolling
boogie (for these with the fitting form of ears). Murray’s enjoying is nearly
vocal right here, his runs replete with honks and yowls, located inside the
extraordinarily tight trappings of Blum and Taylor’s onslaught.

On “Monk’s Door” one thing proverbial manifests, as shards of bop scatter
gentle throughout the proceedings. Very similar to a damaged vase, the thing could be
discerned from fragments and remainders. “Germination” sizzles with gentle
percussion earlier than heavy piano and tenor surfaces. Although the piano propels
the piece, Murray shares a decent and intricate dialogue with Blum
all through that gives a lot of illumination and shadow. On the title
monitor the trio play by means of a collection of crescendos – rhythmic foundations
function launching factors for numerous lyrical (and in any other case) excursions.
Murray will get downright ecstatic over some parts because the piano and drums
chisel away at infinity. “Creatural” is a short monitor the place slight gestures
are traded earlier than longer stretches of exploration are undertaken. The piece
feels conversational and balanced, dropping many of the jagged edges and
striving as an alternative for a metered and sustained dialogue. The album closes
with “Fractals”, a smoking number of high-octane free improvisation that
makes no apologies for its uncooked enthusiasm. The trio stretches out and lets
the music take them the place it desires. Rhythms and melodies launched are
instantly left behind – it’s concerning the hunt right here, not what’s for dinner.
Of their fervour every part is uprooted, overturned, inspected, and thrown
apart – and the listener is left with substantial bounty.

Clearly, the Unit got here to thoughts when listening to this album (the trio
model), not simply the instrumentation however additionally the rhythmic complexity and
sudden shifts between intricacy and simplicity, calm seas and maelstrom.
Blum was mentored by Taylor, so clearly one thing rubbed off, however I additionally
hear Tyner, and Waldron, and a few left-hand stride happening beneath all of the
tumult (as awesomely famous within the Bandcamp tags). The comparability is a
testomony to how nicely this group works collectively, this being their debut
recording and you’ll by no means guess it. Completely good album, hear
carefully and you may be rewarded.