McCullough / Spasovski / Tufekcievski / Filipovski: Transverse
Calligram Records

What began innocently enough—trumpeter Chad McCullough sitting in with pianist Gordan Spasovski, bassist Kiril Tufekcievski, and drummer Viktor Filipovski at a small café in Skopje during a summer 2019 visit—has since grown into repeated concerts and increased rapport between the American jazz artist and his Macedonian counterparts. Having dedicated years to developing “a symbiotic communicative style,” the four now take their relationship to the next level with Transverse, an hour-long set recorded at Chicago's Transient Sound on October 16th, 2024. Produced by the four, the release touches many bases and reflects the broad range of musics they've absorbed and impart to their collective endeavour.

Often opting for flugelhorn over trumpet, McCullough does have a slight edge in the soloing department and wrote four of the eight tunes; however, the quartet is very much a group of equals with all responsible for its identity and contributing equally to the performances. The material benefits from the ties the musicians have to their respective countries: at one moment, the music draws from the folk traditions associated with Macedonia and the countries surrounding it, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Kosovo, and Serbia; at another, it reflects the musicians' engagement with the American jazz tradition, and as the recording advances it becomes increasingly clear that the Macedonians are wholly fluent in the vernacular of American jazz. Transverse is the kind of album that in one track might call to mind trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's ECM material (1997's Litania – Music of Krzysztof Komeda, for example) and in another the iconic sound of Miles Davis's first great quintet, though with Coltrane sitting out.

The folk dimension comes vividly to the fore in the opening “Lake Ohrid Lament,” based on the traditional “Oj Ti Momche, Ohrigjanche” and arranged by Spasovski. The intense energy and enthusiasm of his partners inspires from McCullough a sterling response. His florid solo in this case finds its dynamic counterpart in the playing of the trio, and Spasovski shows he's as engaged as McCullough in his own solo statement. As they do throughout, Tufekcievski and Filipovski power the material with invention and drive. The pianist drew for inspiration from classical composers and contemporary jazz pianists McCoy Tyner and Kenny Kirkland for his “Across the Deep.” An excursion into the American jazz idiom, the piece flows with the lightest of breezes (hear also Filipovski drop bombs with the best of them). Spasovski's even more driving "Manu Casus” likewise draws from the American jazz tradition and again elicits from McCullough a particularly swinging and even blistering statement. The bassist takes his seat in the composer's chair with “For Leni,” written for his young daughter and endearingly light-hearted as it veers between shuffle and playful modes.

The warm tone of the flugelhorn complements the delicacy with which McCullough's “Falling Tide” is essayed, the piece haunting for its fluid movement between keys and lilting pulse. Spasovski deploys fleet single-finger lines to navigate a path through its changing terrain before threading chords into his solo and setting the stage for a thoughtful probing turn from McCullough. The rapport between the four is perhaps never more audible than in this performance for how attentively they tailor their contributions to the music as it arises at each moment. One of the more special pieces is McCullough's “The Forlorn Tale of Tomorrow,” less for its thirteen-minute duration than an episodic structure that gives spotlights to each of the four. Pensive, lyrical, and, yes, forlorn passages emerge as the journey patiently unfolds, but also ones exuding drama and mystery. Haunting too are McCullough's “Twist,” which animates his ruminative flugelhorn with an aromatically tinged backdrop, and “Real & Unreal,” which caps the set with the kind of relaxed and serene ballad delivered in the wee hours to usher club-goers out the door.

Transverse is a terrific international collaboration that truly does document, in McCullough's words, “the borderless expanse that music can traverse.” An always indomitable unifier, it tears down walls that some appear hell-bent on erecting to separate people from different lands. The four individuals here show how effortlessly connections can be made between musicians and how beneficial the forging of such friendships can be. The musical rewards are abundant, but that they derive from a quartet of American and Macedonian players makes the result all the more compelling.

August 2025