REVIEWS: All that Jazz with Simon Adams

Simon Adams reviews the hottest jazz albums hitting the high notes…

AYUMI TANAKA TRIO: Subaqueous Silence (ECM). It was a deep interest in the work of Norwegian improvisers that first brought Japanese pianist Ayumi Tanaka to Oslo some ten years ago. But alongside that voyage of discovery was a growing awareness of her own Japanese roots, as can be heard here in the ascetic rigour of her playing, the sense of poetry and nature. For hers is a sparse music, of pauses and silence, of considered statements and deep contemplation.

Excepting the nine-minute title track, none of the seven pieces last much more than four minutes, for brevity equals concision of thought and expression. Throughout, the accompaniment is always delicate, drummer Per Oddvar Johansen often relying on just brushwork on the snare drum or a gently splashed cymbal, while bassist Christian Meaas Svendsen mixes restraint with more physical and textural exploration. I doubt ECM has ever produced a more minimal album, but this is a fine debut from a fascinating pianist.

SEAN KHAN: Supreme Love: A Journey Through Coltrane (BEE Music). Saxophonist Sean Khan records that his life’s journey has often been rocky, a path full of both mistakes and successes, at one point almost giving up music due to severe financial hardship. But throughout, John Coltrane’s music has been a constant. “So, as I testify, it is no exaggeration to say that Coltrane kept me in the game and at my lowest point was my only nourishment.”

As a thank you to his mentor, he has produced a three-album tribute that mixes Coltrane originals with his own clubby, spacey music. Coltrane devotees will hate it, but as a labour of love, it is rather wonderful. British jazz legend Peter King turns up on a few tracks to show how saxophone solos are really played.

MARCIN WASILEWSKI TRIO: En Attendant (ECM). Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski leads what is probably the finest jazz piano trio in existence at the moment, for his touch is exquisite, his timing impeccable, and his quiet melodic sense just perfect. Bass and drums complement him perfectly.

On this new set, recorded in 2019, the trio plays the three-part contemplative and then agitated In Motion, jointly composed by all, as well as Bach’s Variation 25 from the Goldberg Variations, Carla Bley’s ethereal and timeless Vashkar, and – probably for the first time ever on a jazz record – The Doors’ Riders On The Storm. Now this should not work out well at all, but put aside visions of Jim Morrison in leather trousers, and concentrate instead on the slowly menacing theme, and the result is just stunning.

This is a trio that can do no wrong, so catch them here at their best.