SIMON NABATOV TRIO – Picking Order
Leo Records CD LR 765
Simon Nabatov, piano; Stefan Schönegg, bass; Dominik Mahnig, drums
Recorded in The Loft in Cologne
Here is a new trio recording together for the first time. Stefan Schönegg is a newcomer, the other two having played and recorded together before. Although the music is composed, written, there always seems time, space and freedom for improvisation to develop, even out of more structured elements. Developments take place in the opposite direction too, freely improvised works being followed by something almost entirely arranged. The opening track, Fill in the Blanks, is itself a demonstration of this, switching as it does between tight agendas and free flowing improv. The piece is quite complex and at first somewhat confusing – I thought I was listening to a number of discreet, short tracks, but on revisiting it came together more readily.
Picking Order, Track 3, is reminiscent of the exhilarating Cecil Taylor style of piano playing then there is a significant switch as the next track, Growing a Soul Patch, starts with a wonderfully serene bowed bass solo. Definitely in a jazz-blues style, it brings the listener full circle to the notion that we probably started with: that we had been going to hear a jazz album and in spite of the dinks and jigs in and out of contemporary classical music and mainstream lyricism, this truly is a fine jazz album, albeit one which shows its author’s cultural background without actually showing off.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
Leo Records CD LR 765
Simon Nabatov, piano; Stefan Schönegg, bass; Dominik Mahnig, drums
Recorded in The Loft in Cologne
Here is a new trio recording together for the first time. Stefan Schönegg is a newcomer, the other two having played and recorded together before. Although the music is composed, written, there always seems time, space and freedom for improvisation to develop, even out of more structured elements. Developments take place in the opposite direction too, freely improvised works being followed by something almost entirely arranged. The opening track, Fill in the Blanks, is itself a demonstration of this, switching as it does between tight agendas and free flowing improv. The piece is quite complex and at first somewhat confusing – I thought I was listening to a number of discreet, short tracks, but on revisiting it came together more readily.
Picking Order, Track 3, is reminiscent of the exhilarating Cecil Taylor style of piano playing then there is a significant switch as the next track, Growing a Soul Patch, starts with a wonderfully serene bowed bass solo. Definitely in a jazz-blues style, it brings the listener full circle to the notion that we probably started with: that we had been going to hear a jazz album and in spite of the dinks and jigs in and out of contemporary classical music and mainstream lyricism, this truly is a fine jazz album, albeit one which shows its author’s cultural background without actually showing off.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
