'Just when you think you’ll never like another piano trio record, along comes so
author: Cadence Magazine (NY) June 2007
CADENCE MAGAZINE JUNE 2007
ALISTER SPENCE,
MERCURY,
RUFUS 75.
An Australian piano trio incorporating electronics and featuring Swanton on bass? No, it’s not the Necks but this group has a similar surfeit of creative energy and ideas.
It really starts with Spence, a wonderfully imaginative pianist with considerable stylistic range. At times (on “Alpha,” for example) his playing is drifting and impressionistic, with an almost Evans-like introspection. Elsewhere, as on “Momentum,” he displays an instinct for the riff and employs some tight left-hand figures. Perhaps the most consistent stylistic impulse he evinces, however, is the influence of Keith Jarrett (his interpolation of idioms, his lyrical intensity).
And regardless of where his stylistic inclinations lead him, he’s got wonderful colleagues. Swanton’s very elastic lines suggest an Eddie Gomez influence to me, while Hall is a real delight, both tasteful colorist and vigorous groove merchant.
Honestly they’re at their best when pulse is at the fore, on tracks like “Momentum” (where Hall blends Swing and electronica), “Mercury” (like Tristano on steroids sitting in on The Necks’ “Hanging Gardens”), or “Marco Polo Goes West” (with more shifts in tempo and meter than you can count).
But they never sacrifice the space for expression at the heart of their music. Whether they’re engaging in some spidery free improv (“Eagle Man”), gently integrating electronics (on the opener or “Luminescence,” with both live and sampled glockenspiel), or on ballads that are unafraid to be plain pretty (“Sixteen”), the group proves they have other virtues as well.
Just when you think you’ll never like another piano trio record, along comes something delightful like this.
JASON BIVINS
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'An excellent example of the high standard of jazz now emerging from Australia'.
author: JAZZWISE MAGAZINE (UK) June 2007
ALISTER SPENCE TRIO
MERCURY
RF075 ****
Alister Spence (p; samples), Lloyd Swanton (b) and Toby hall (d).
This is the third album by the Alister Spence Trio, and is an excellent example of the high standard of jazz now emerging from Australia, so for anyone curious about this fascinating scene, here’s a great place to start. Spence, together with drummer Toby Hall (who is also a member of Mike Nock’s current trio), emerged as a talent to watch from the Clarion Fracture Zone. Lloyd Swanton is a founding member of the The Necks so that between them, they cover something of a who’s who of a critically acclaimed corner of Oz jazz.
Spence can be a superbly forthright pianist (‘momentum’) but is also lyrical and thoughtful on the ambient ‘Luminescence.’ This is a departure from the previous two albums with three short episodic bursts (‘Alpha’, ‘Omega’ and ‘Pi’) and two intros (to ‘Luminescence’ and ‘Mercury’) that involve samples that give a haunting, other worldly feel and offer tonal variation to the familiar sound of a piano trio.
But whether it is the Gamelan-like opening of ‘Sixteen’ or the twisting edgy theme of ‘Marco Polo Goes West’, Spence gives evidence of musical growth with his ability to sustain musical interest with originality and ease of execution.
STUART NICHOLSON
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