Seamus Blake, Avishai Cohen & Marc Miralta Trio - SunSol (2000)

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The first time I saw a CD on the "Fresh Sound – New Talent" label, I couldn’t help but wonder if the music made by this new talent was indeed fresh sounding. So far, so good: I have 5 CDs on FSNT (including the two reviewed here – and check the archive for my review of the Jimmy Weinstein – Matt Renzi trio’s Lines and Ballads disc) and each has either introduced me to (at least!) one very fine musician whom I was hitherto unaware of. Better yet, each of these releases has quite a bit to offer musically. It seems that the young artists on FSNT are dedicated to forging their own sound, instead of winning easy acclaim by appropriating classic jazz styles of the '50s and '60s. As good as Horse With a Broken Leg Is, Sun / Sol, the debut release by the Marc Miralta / Seamus Blake Trio, may be even better. Miralta, the only unfamiliar name to me on this release, is an uncannily musical drummer who penned three of the disc’s eight tunes. The music on this disc is firmly tonal, though drums, bass and tenor saxophone all spend more or less equal amounts of time in the spotlight. The compositions are smart without being smart-assed, profound without being humorless, attractive withough being flowery. Miralta and Cohen are remarkably comfortable and capable in their roles as soloists. At times, Cohen’s bass is as percussive as Miralta’s drums: his contributions to Sun / Sol are absolutely stunning throughout. In the trio format, Blake’s stylistic debt to Joe Lovano is somewhat more apparent than on Horse With a Broken Leg. That’s not to say that he is a tiresome, derivative sort of player. Quite the contrary, I never tired of his long asymmetrical lines and sweet, singing tone. The tunes on Sun / Sol are well-chosen, and display the trio’s broad stylistic range while providing plenty of harmonic, melodic and rhythmic challenges. "Circle K" and "Now and Here" both have a dark off-center funk feel, and I was especially taken by Miralta’s risky-but-not-flashy drumming on both. Miralta is an accomplished composer as well: "Boston in ¾" is a pretty lament that gets coaxed into a more urgent direction by Blake’s expressive tenor saxophone. The other ballad, and the only standard on the CD, Newley and Bricusse’s "Pure Imagination," gets a rather more lush treatment, without being mawkish or gooey. I have listened to Sun / Sol a dozen times or more without tiring of it! Surely one of this young year’s better releases. Review Found On JazzWeekly.com

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Track Listing:
1) Go
2) Circle K
3) Boston in ¾
4) Now and Here
5) Pure Imagination
6) Mr. Omaha
7) 70’s Child
8) Sunsol

Personnel:
Blake – tenor sax
Miralta – drums
Avishai Cohen – bass