A straight-ahead piano-bass-drums trio recording, with a couple of standards included, is not what most of us would expect from the esteemed drummer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey. Sorey is usually associated with the avant-garde camp that includes Myra Melford, Kris Davis, Marilyn Crispell, and others. Yet, as we have often learned, labels are just labels and beautiful music can exist in more conventional as well as avant-garde settings.
For this project, Mesmerism. Sorey chose two close colleagues: pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Matt Brewer to form a trio that had never played together as a threesome. Sorey, who typically rehearses an album for a few days, chose to only rehearse for an hour or two and let the recording session be improvisational around familiar fare from Horace Silver, Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, and more likely suspects, Paul Motian and Richard Muhal Abrams. One could get the impression that professing a love for Great American Songbook fare is an admission of guilt for an edgy musician like Sorey but the compositions hold up so well and lend themselves to what Sorey terms “simple alterations,” a path he’s long wanted to explore given the right timing and right musicians.
On the album, the trio does a bit of both – honor the composition faithfully in the case of Silver’s “Enchantment,” Abrams’ “Two Over One” and Ellington’s (on CD and streaming only)” REM Blues” while delving into the aforementioned alterations on the others. He puts trust in pianist Diehl and bassist Brewer’s solid knowledge of standards and musical instincts. Diehl’s graceful touch served Cecile McLorin Salvant well as she launched her career and Brewer’s long-term membership in the SF Jazz Collective as well as his work with Sorey in Steve Lehman’s ensemble provide the sturdy foundation.
When we think of piano trio music, we invariably land on Bill Evans at the top of the list and while there are hints of that style here, especially on “Autumn Leaves” and “Detour Ahead.” the other tracks evoke even some of the ‘50s piano heroes such as Red Garland, Tommy Flanagan, or Hank Jones. It’s a combination of swing and blues. With regard to the 14-minute “Detour Ahead,” where Sorey’s touch is subtle, and his unhurried trio mates render the arrangement that constantly departs from the original key by harmonically modulating to other keys of the song with the structure, the epitome of the kind of modal music Evans (and Miles) essentially established. As they close the piece, they bring it down to the most elegant of whispers. They handle “Autumn Leaves” with a white glove touch as well with Brewer’s lyrical bass work and Sorey’s skittering snares filling in the spaces left by Diehl’s melodic pauses.
The trio ventures into the more explorative territory, away from their straight-ahead style, in Motian’s “From Time To Time,” moving from abstraction, leaving the melody suspended as if out of reach, only to grasp it tightly in the last few moments, with Brewer rather than Diehl providing the initial feel for it. The bluesy colors return in Abrams’ “Two Over One,” with Brewer’s emphatic plucking, Sorey’s cymbals adding to Diehl’s shimmering piano and forceful energy, heretofore unheard from all three in the closing third of the composition. For those fortunate to have the CD or streaming version, we hear the most pronounced blues feel and intoxicating swing in the Ellington “REM Blues” with Brewer again revealing immense pizzicato chops to the understated Sorey’s steady steering and Diehl’s comping.
Mesmerism is not about being cute with the unexpected. It is a statement of unwavering faith in tradition. Rather than breaking any new ground, it is a graceful and honest interpretation of these enduring compositions.
