Harry Bartlett Trio: Wildwood
Harry Bartlett Music
Wildwood is a guitar trio recording rooted in the jazz tradition, but its music transcends a single genre. Ambient and folk also make their way into the nine instrumentals, all of them written by Toronto-based guitarist Harry Bartlett. He's joined by bassist Caleb Klager and drummer Harry Vetro on the set, which arrives four years after the trio's debut EP. Following its release, the outfit performed throughout Canada and developed a strong rapport vividly captured on the new edition.
Bartlett comes by folk and jazz influences honestly. He grew up in British Columbia, where he was exposed to the folk tradition, before attending the University of Toronto's Jazz Performance program from 2016 to 2020 and also fitting in a stint at Brooklyn's School of Improvised Music in 2019. For Wildwood, Bartlett returned to the west coast where on Gambier Island, material was written over five months and recorded during three July days in 2021. It's clear from listening to the release that the rugged terrain of the setting left a strong mark on the material.
That Wildwood will venture outside jazz is obvious the second “Burgess Falls” inaugurates it with guitar tremolo and twang and a plodding groove, a fact made even clearer when the music takes a heavier turn. Names like Ry Cooder and Bill Frisell spring to mind here much more than Ed Bickert or Joe Pass. Shifting gears, ambient and folk come into play when Bartlett dons an acoustic for the atmospheric “Circle of Moss and Fire Smoke,” the performance subliminally sweetened with a wisp of modular synth by Klager. Pretty too is “Lachesism,” which closes the release on a largely meditative note and again includes modular synth, this time more conspicuously and to trippy effect. Elsewhere, the dynamic “Story Book Picture” sees Bartlett weaving jazz chops into the picture and Klager contributing a strong electric solo, not the only time that happens on the release. A folk storytelling side of the album emerges in “The Incident at Blood Bay,” the title hinting at an act of violence that's sonically intimated by ominous cymbal flourishes and a marching bass line.
Longer tracks such as “Snowfall on Sword Ferns” and “Queen of Surrey” work well for allowing the trio to stretch out and fully explore the material. With Klager and Vetro providing solid support, “Snowfall on Sword Ferns” is elevated by an elaborate guitar solo; even better, the piece modulates between quiet and aggressive episodes and thus registers as one of the album's more multi-dimensional settings. The nine-minute running time of “Queen of Surrey” affords a great chance to sample Bartlett's well-developed guitar craft as well as the excellent playing of his partners.
Adding to the album's appeal, Bartlett alternates between electric and acoustic throughout, with Klager doing the same with double and electric basses. Compositional contrasts are plentiful too, with the trio as ready to dish out an evocative reverie (“Circle of Moss and Fire Smoke”) as short detour into chaos (“Sailing Over Troubled Waters”). Still, while there's much to recommend, the album isn't perfect. At less than four minutes long, “Burgess Falls” ends earlier than it might, especially when the opportunity's there for the trio to build towards a Mogwai-like climax. “Circle of Moss and Fire Smoke” likewise could have been developed into something more than a too-brief vignette, as effective as it is. Such flaws aren't so crippling, however, that they prevent the album from meriting a well-earned recommendation.November 2022