Julieta Eugenio: Stay
Julieta Eugenio

The conversational rapport tenor saxophonist Julieta Eugenio cultivated with bassist Matt Dwonszyk and drummer Jonathan Barber on her 2022 album Jump remains solidly in place on Stay. Produced by her and recorded at Big Orange Sheep on August 26th last year, the set features nine Eugenio originals plus “Sophisticated Lady” and augments the trio with Rhodes player Leo Genovese on two cuts. There's an obvious up- and downside to including the Ellington classic: on the positive side, the enduring ballad provides a terrific illustration of the trio's sensitive interplay; less flatteringly, the composition accentuates the difference between the brilliance of Duke's writing and Eugenio's, which is serviceable but hardly as distinguished.

As an achievement, however, the success or failure of Stay lies less in the calibre of its writing and considerably more in the trio performances and Eugenio's tenor playing. Stated otherwise, the pieces she wrote for the project function effectively as vehicles for group interaction and individual expression and in that regard serve the Argentina-born saxophonist and her bandmates well. Stay, which is both the title of the album and the poem by her shown on the inner sleeve, ends with the lines, “Stay with me, I'm here / It's me, Let's navigate,” and navigate the trio members do, with intense attention to the moves they make together. The three strike a careful balance between hewing to the compositional structures and using them as springboards for personal expression. Eugenio's the primary melodist, naturally, but the others carry their share of the load too. That's apparent in the way they imaginatively enliven their contributions and support the explorative turns the leader takes.

Her tenor sound is a major part of the album's appeal. Her playing's marked by invention and imagination, whether she's riding an uptempo wave or emoting gently. Carrying on the tenor legacies of Joe Henderson and Dexter Gordon, she demonstrates authoritative command of her instrument and a keen sense of flow and dynamics. However far she deviates from the melodic armature of a tune, Eugenio creates the impression that's she's fully aware of where she is and where she's going before heading back. The through-lines in her playing are thoughtfully and fluidly executed, not erratic.

The connection the three share is evident the moment the title track initiates the set with a probing, almost Eastern-tinged exploration that sees Eugenio's full-throated attack buoyed by the spontaneous invention of Dwonszyk and Barber. Ebbing and flowing, the performance alternates between Coltrane-esque intensity and controlled fire. As he does here and on the breezy “Sunday Stranger,” Barber's not afraid to impose himself assertively when Eugenio cedes the stage to him, and the bassist is a strong presence too, as shown by his towering solo turns on “Trapped” and “Out There.” Individually, the musicians impress, but they do so perhaps even more when their chemistry as a collective is captured. The ease and elasticity with which they execute “Sunday Stranger” is proof enough of that.

With her fellow Argentine native Genovese guesting on “Breath I” and “Breath II,” the music assumes a warm, expansive character, and his Rhodes adds so much sparkle to the performances it's hard to resist thinking her trio might be better with him as a full member. Whereas those tracks convert the trio into a quartet, on “Breath III” and “Breath IV” it becomes a duo when she partners with Barber only.

April 2024