Travels - Downbeat

most dynamic element, aside from momentswhere bassist Salvatore Maiore steps forward.When he does so about five minutes into thetitle cut, Battaglia and Dani fade so far backthat for a while the bass stands alone in a spacewhere time itself has stopped.This sense of stasis permeates even“Armonia,” a 13-minute tour de force witha chorus, if that’s the right word, in whicha series of I–IV chords descend, with a surprisingand satisfying major third triad in itsmidst. Yet even this movement passes like abrief lift in a breeze.More often, in Battaglia’s bare-bonesaccompaniments or exotically evocativethemes on pieces such as the Iberian-inflected“Ismaro,” it feels more like listeners are on ahilltop, taking in the panorama on a windlessday—or taking the time at a gallery to appreciatea painting, enigmatic but beautiful. Thatis never a bad place to be at all. —Bob DoerschukSongways: Euphonia Elegy; Ismaro, Vondervotteimittis; Armonia;Mildendo Wide Song; Monte Analogo; Abdias; Songways;Perla; Babel Hymn. (78:08)Personnel: Stefano Battaglia, piano; Salvatore Maiore; bass;Roberto Dani, drums.Ordering info: ecmrecords.comStefano Battaglia TrioSongwaysECM 3724554HHH1/2Hang around the art museum and it’s likelyyou’ll hear someone express opinions aboutone or another work through analogy. Amonumental painting might be comparedto a symphony, an M.C. Escher engravingto a dissonant fugue, a Jackson Pollock tothe abstract intensities of a Cecil Taylorimprovisation.These sorts of comparisons probablyreflect an intention to invest such works withthe energy of movement. For all the activitysplashed across a canvas, that canvas ends uplocked in a frame and hung on a wall. Evenso, it might stir ideas of movement in theviewer’s mind, whether literally as in MarcelDuchamp’s famous “Nude Descending AStaircase, No. 2” or through William Turner’sviolently poetic storms at sea.What, then, can one say about thereverse—about music that feels motionless?Listening to ECM veteran pianist StefanoBattaglia and his trio on Songways, the wordsthat come to mind suggest visual more thanthan musical references. When there is movement,it is like shadow wafting across an otherwiseunchanging landscape. More often,the sound hangs in the air, a suspension offifths, spare drum taps and cymbal rolls, withisolated bass notes delineating a slow flow ofchords, passing like clouds.The picture, or the music, is breathlesslybeautiful. There’s ample open space, thanksto Battaglia’s extremely restrained performance.This makes every element in themix as critical as each dot in a GeorgesSeurat composition. You hear every cymbalting, muffled tom thump and tiny bellchime played by drummer Roberto Dani;on “Vondervotteimittis” and elsewhere,he adds some noises that suggest draggingsomething metallic across a couple inchesof concrete floor. Their mystery adds asmall but dramatic color to the trio’s overallpalette.On most of Songways, Dani’s drums are theJUNE 2013 DOWNBEAT 83