Search - Bob Ravenscroft Trio :: Intersections 1

Compelling piano trio from Tuscon

T. M. Orange | 10/23/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The piano-bass-drums trio is one of the more ubiquitous jazz combos, and because they are so common it is easy for them to sound competent but not especially compelling. Plus the precedents cast such long shadows--one thinks immediately of the trios led by such piano giants as Horace Silver, Sonny Clark, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, and even more recently those of Marilyn Crispell and Brad Meldhau. In other words, it's a crowded field--in which Ravenscroft can clearly hold his own. Based in Tuscon, Ravenscroft is a do-it-yourself one-man industry (as Tuscon perhaps necessitates): this is recorded live and produced by Ravenscroft on his own label. The recording itself sounds a bit unnatural (piano close and flat, bass well-centered, drums distant and reverby, cymbals way too shimmery), but the compositions and the playing are quite solid. The tonal palettes and compositional structures are challenging but engaging; this is not traditional, "straight ahead" jazz but should not lose or offend those accustomed to it. This stuff never gets monotonous: the shifts are always interesting and purposeful."