Six-ish Plateaus
Elastic, 2022
8/10
The sophomore album from the Canadian free jazz outfit Triio, the sextet showcases the talents of Ben Labikova (alto/soprano sax), Naomi McCarrol-Butler (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax), Tom Fleming (guitar), Michael Davidson (vibraphone), Stefan Hegerat (drums, percussion) and Alex Fournier (double bass/compositions) for these 5 adventurous tracks.
“An Intrepid Toad” opens the listen with playful drums, soulful sax and strategic clarinet that makes for a very warm climate, and the title track follows with a very intriguing atmosphere of guitar picking, bouts of percussive sounds and very animated vibraphone for the meticulous delivery.
“Addedna/Agenda” lands in the middle, and radiates much beauty with its stirring brass and dreamy backbone, while “Tragic Leisure” spends 11 minutes mesmerizing us with its soothing clarinet and cautious, cinematic landscape. The final track, “Saltlick City”, then blends sax, drums, vibraphone, clarinet and guitars into a timeless jazz exit.
An excellent outing that pairs written sections with improvisation, each of the tracks present are quite distinct from each other, and illustrate a tremendous amount of skill from all 6 members.
Travels well with: Jacob Chung- Epistle; Chris Mondak- Glass Spheres