Trio recordings by jazz groups don’t often feature a trumpet accompanied only by bass and drums. The chord-less (no piano or guitar, that is) saxophone trio has a long history, but the format of Strange Heavens, the new album from bassist Linda May Han Oh, is rare. Chet Baker recorded with such a trio in the 1960s. Still, most of the other recordings restricted to this instrumentation have been made by trumpeters who are part of jazz’s avant-garde, such as Don Cherry, Bill Dixon, Herb Robertson, Magnus Broo, Peter Evans, Roy Campbell, and Nate Wooley.
(Two notable exceptions are the superb albums by trumpet player Cuong Vu, accompanied by Stomu Takeishi on bass and drummer John Hollenbeck: Pure and Come Play with Me. Vu is a player who effortlessly straddles jazz that is “in” and “out” — and played for years in the Pat Metheny Group.)
Strange Heavens is not only a rare “trumpet trio” recording, but it is the only one I could find in which a trumpet player did not lead. It is also a mostly straight-ahead jazz record. Oh has composed ten new songs that flex and breathe in the jazz tradition, some uptempo and some as lovely ballads. Her acoustic bass often plays the melodies in octaves or harmony with trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. The leader locks into a breathtaking swing, funky backbeat time, or colorful orchestration with drummer Tyshawn Sorey, with whom she has played in pianist Vijay Iyer‘s trio.
A great example of how catchy this music can be is “Noise Machinery”, which has a simple, hummable melody of repeated notes that cycle around in a set of irresistible chords. Bass and trumpet harmonize the tune, and then Oh repurposes it as a funky bass lick. Sorey sits deep in a snare/hi-hat groove pattern and adds hip accents, syncopations, and guidepost hits that bring quiet excitement to the trumpet and bass solos.
Plenty of other music here is in tasty but tricked-out four-four time. The thrilling “Living Proof” is built on a powerful bass figure using propulsive double-stops. Trumpet and bass come together for the last figure of the written melody. Then Akinmusire launches into a solo that is, in truth, a duet with Sorey’s rolling drum accompaniment. Sorey is a marvel here: never overpowering even as he plays with attention-getting creativity that maps onto the tune with fluid precision.
As on several other tunes here, a genuine written melody emerges most fully later in the performance. The opening track, “Portal“, is also defined by a wizard-like bass ostinato. While Akinmusire plays a fluttering trumpet solo that uses a wide array of sonic options, Sorey and Oh conjure a thousand syncopations, which lead to a composed middle section you aren’t expecting.
“The Sweetest Water” is the set’s most rambunctious swinger, with a melody that could have been on a 1960s Blue Note album. Sorey gets into a delicious and driving Billy Higgins bag, and his playing as Oh takes the first solo is a master class in Afro-Cuban tinged swing. Akinmusire solos in his unique manner — though the song pops and moves, he approaches the improvisation in a “slant” way, finding ways to play half-time licks (some abstract, some straight-ahead) that are nevertheless in the flow.
Several tracks in this collection stand among the most beautiful and affecting ballads composed in recent years, particularly among players who we group in jazz’s current vanguard. “Folk Song” is a plaintive melody played by Oh with her bow in the instrument’s highest register, then harmonized by Akinmusire with long tones in the low mid-range of his trumpet. Sorey plays minimal tom patterns around this feather of a track. The title track and sumptuous ballad, “Strange Heavens”, is an ideal vehicle for Akinmusire’s warm tone, which honestly sounds more like a human voice than most brass players can conjure.
The original ballad that most enraptures is “Just Waiting”, a deep-blue torch song that could serve as a dangerous theme for a modern film noir. It’s my favorite Linda May Han Oh solo of the set, accompanied by very spare Sorey accents. This “minor” masterpiece sonically describes an atmospheric alley in a city you are dreaming about.
Many listeners will expect a trio involving these three musicians to offer music that leans further toward the daring. It’s here. “Skin”, composed by the late Geri Allen, is arranged as a showcase for Sorey’s playful drums. It has a scrabbling theme that encourages the session’s most beyond-the-chords playing. And “Work Song” is an Oh Original that begins as an open group improvisation for the trio. Akinmusire soon locks into another jabbing, repeated-note theme, with the leader improvising around it, incorporating snippets of swing, echoes of the written melody, and then big, strummed chords that end the track as a trumpet trio tune that wouldn’t mind dealing in power chords.
My favorite performance from Strange Heavens is “Acapella”, written by trombonist and composer Melba Liston. This beguiling melody might have come from Harold Arlen or Richard Rogers — simple and diatonic but somehow not hackneyed in the least. It is stated in harmony by bass and trumpet as Sorey colors it on his cymbals with a mere whisper. The tune is so strong that Oh wisely omits much improvisation, simply playing a few bass embellishments.
Like all the tracks on this album, “Acapella” is a sonic jewel, recorded so that you feel as though you are standing in the same room with three superb musicians working together with great connection. Running to a dozen performances, only one of which exceeds five minutes, Strange Heavens is concise and beautifully organized. The music is both spontaneous and carefully crafted. Not a note is wasted.
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