Classic jazz trio with timeless results.
Pianist Andy Milne joins forces with bassist John Hebert and drummer Clarence Penn for a rich melding of self-penned tunes and a couple bopping covers. He takes McCoy Tyner’s “Passion Dance” and gives extra texture to the oblique harmonies as the three proved deft interplay. His read of Benny Golson’s Sad To Say” includes elliptical shadows and soft tones, while the team gets kinetic and conversant on “Dancing On The Savannah”. Herbert gets a nice solo space there and bows his strings on the mournful “The Call”. Penn leans into his sticks on the intro to the Monkish “Geew” and gives a fun head bop on “Drive By-The Fall”. The three work like three threads of a chord, each sustaining the other.
Claude Diallo takes his 88s along with Luques Curtis/b and Andy Bauer/dr for vintage bop originals. The trio’s attitude is summarized in the title “McCoy Meets Monk” as the three here (and elsewhere) mix quirky bops with full-fisted themes. Diallo gives a solo read of “ Leo Mathieu” with the aria allowing us to take in his rich tones, while his fingers lurk darkly with the team on the modal “One Last Prayer For You”. Curtis gets some time in the sunshine as he glides around Bauer’s brushes on “Yours” and he bounces to the cymbals on the easy “Animation’s Contemplation”. Timeless treasures.