AprilCadence2013

TRIO X
LIVE ON TOUR 2010
CIMPOL 5027-5030
DISC 1: MAMA, MAY I HAVE
BLACK / IOWA CITY JUMP
/ BRASS AIR / BEATRICE.
9/20/10, IOWA CITY, IA
KRANNERT CRAVING /
CHARLIE-SMILE / NAIMA
/ WALKA WIT ME BABY.
9/30/10, CHAMPAIGN, IL
DISC 2: FOR JACKIE AND
ABE AND A FULLISH
FEAST / FOR SIRONE /
DECOMPOSITIONS / FOR
THE SENORITA WHO
DANCES / FOR TONY
WILLIAMS / FOR TRANE’S
84TH, HBJC / NOT QUITE
MIDNIGHT / MORE MONKIN’
IN EVIDENCE / GOING
HOME. 929/10, WAUKEE, IA
DISC 3: EDGEFEST BROWN
SKIN / BRASS AND BEAUTY
SMILE / ROUND MIDNIGHT
/ NATION TIME, STELLA /
FOR TRANE’S 84TH, HBJC /
GOING HOME. ANN ARBOR,
MI
New Issues
124 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013
up to his vision of just how the music should sound.
And this is one of the strongest releases I've ever heard
from this aggregation.
One final word: mention has to be made of the
packaging for this disc, designed by Kees Moerbeek.
Moerbeek is a highly regarded Dutch artist who
specializes in pop ups for both children’s books and
older folks. He’s designed an elaborate package for
this disc that consists of multiple folded panels with
illustrations of the divas and a die-cut cover that
contains a pop-up Greta Garbo. It’s quite elaborate, a
little unwieldy but visually stunning. And it’s very much
in keeping with the spirit of the music.
Robert Iannapollo
reaction such as “What? Another Trio X boxed
A set?” wouldn’t surprise me. Do we really need
another one? Live On Tour 2010 is the third multi-disc
document of one of this band’s tours to be released.
However, this trio of uncompromising musicians is,
to this listener, the essence of the jazz process: three
players (saxophone and trumpeter Joe McPhee, bassist
Dominic Duval and drummer Jay Rosen) who approach
their sets with no previous discussion of a set list, just
get up on the stand play. Frequently, they will find
themselves deep in the heart of a song and they’ll
mine it for all its worth. And part of the fun of listening
to Trio X is how they get there.
Like their 2008 tour, this was a tour of the Midwest, an
area that rarely gets a chance to hear the live version
of this style of music. And, as is their method, the trio,
while maintaining a spontaneous approach, tends to
gravitate toward thematic touchstones that evolve out
of the improvisations. On this tour Coltrane’s “Naima”
and Charlie Chaplain’s “Smile” seemed to be on their
collective minds. The first evidence of “Naima” comes
during the Waukee, Iowa concert. There, it’s sandwiched
in the middle of the set and obliquely referenced
before it turns into a full-blown exposition. It crops
up at the following night’s concert at the Krannert Art