Danny Widdicombe & Trichotomy: Iridescence (Earshift Music)
Over the years the Australian piano trio Trichotomy has collaborated with a number of other acts, and these partnerships have produced consistently interesting and enjoyable results. This time they have teamed up with singer, guitarist and synth-player Danny Widdicombe, who previously recorded with them on the award-winning 2019 album Between the Lines.
In my view Trichotomy is one of the best piano trios around and they always deliver a quality product. This album is no exception – it is beautifully performed and produced, but like many releases that come my way these days, it raises the question of how this music can be categorised . . . and how much that matters in a jazz magazine. (Personally I’m more concerned with whether it’s good rather than whether it’s simon-pure jazz.) Trichotomy has never shied away from eclecticism, and this album encompasses a range of genres which might be broadly labelled as soul and R&B, with some other echoes chiming in here and there. All the songs are credited to Widdicombe and the trio jointly, and the singer puts them all across with elegance and feeling.
It would be pushing it too far to say that the performances constitute songs by vocalist with accompaniment, but some Trichotomy fans might regret that the trio does not have more space to stretch out. If so, they have a number of other albums by the group to fall back on. On its own terms Iridescence is well worth listening to, full of engaging playing and intriguing songs.
Song Yi Jeon Nonet: The Earthy Suites (self released)
Speaking of eclecticism, the music on this album is rooted in Korean traditional music. The first track orientates us with a version of Seya Seya, a folk song. Thereafter, in the 21′ 39″ Suite One and the shorter Suite Two (8′ 45″) the traditional elements are harder to discern for most of us with little knowledge of Korean culture. The two suites include samples of master drummers and dancers, but these are embedded in powerful playing by the nonet (three saxes, two trombones, guitar, bass, drums and the voice of the leader) producing some fluent, driving, sometimes slightly unnerving jazz (with some exciting work by Baptiste Stanek on soprano) interspersed here and there with passages of more elegant music, usually provided by the singing of the leader herself, though she sings some aggressive vocalising as well. Throughout there are some rich (and sometimes ferocious) orchestrations as well as engaging solos, notably by guitarist Fabio Gouvea and pianist Noe Secula.
