Adam Moezinia: Folk Element Trio
Outside in Music

The expansiveness of Los Angeles native Adam Moezinia's vision is well accounted for on his first album as a bandleader, Folk Element Trio. By way of illustration, his understanding of what constitutes folk isn't limited to American folk music but encompasses the form as at arises within the Beninese, Malian, and Welsh traditions; jazz is part of the mix too, as the guitarist regards it, like many, as America's folk music. Without stating it outright, the album's a global folk album that sees Moezinia, bassist Dan Chmielinski, and drummer Charles Goold branding those myriad traditions with a highly personalized sound.

At the age of twelve, the guitarist's listening appetite was already omnivorous, with blues, pop, rock, funk, R&B, country, folk, and jazz informing his musical world. Yet he later found himself as a player keeping the jazz world separate from the others, going so far as to perform different repertoires with different groups. A few years ago, however, the Juilliard School graduate realized that almost every piece he was writing contained a folk element and so embraced the idea of synthesizing the genres, such that a given piece would merge the live, improvisatory feel of jazz with the melodic directness of folk music. That naturally led to the desire to explore the folk traditions of other countries. Indicative of Moezinia's wide net, originals appear alongside covers of material by Bob Dylan, Robert Johnson, and Duke Ellington.

For the album-opening “Celebration,” the guitarist drew for inspiration from Beninese guitarist Lionel Loueke and Malian singer Oumuo Sangare, and consistent with that the aptly titled tune boasts a funky feel and the kind of dazzling picking at which Loueke excels. The trio locks in tightly, with the irrepressibly swinging result a promising harbinger of what's ahead. For the main melody in “School Daze,” the guitarist drew for inspiration from part of a Wayne Shorter solo on 2005's Beyond the Sound Barrier, but the radiant composition is all Moezinia and, with the leader's legato attack leading the way, finds the trio operating in full jazz mode. Breezier still is “Freeze,” during which the trio shows its jazz roots as proudly.

Moezinia's versatility is naturally called upon when the stylistic range is broad, but he has little difficulty meeting the challenge: his playing can be raw or delicate depending on the material's needs. Hear, for instance, his fiery solo near the end of “Groove March” or how his handling of reverb and tremolo amplifies the dreamy languour of Ellington's “Azalea.” As much as his playing is front and centre, Chmielinski and Goold receive time in the spotlight too, with the latter taking a dynamic solo towards the end of “Celebration,” for example, and the bassist elevating Dylan's “Don't Think Twice It's Alright” with a number of singing riffs on the melody.

Just when you think “Lisa Lan” will feature the guitarist alone in a drone-grounded meditation, the Welsh folk song morphs into a heavy group throwdown. Speaking of heavy, don't skip the boogaloo treatment of Johnson's “Come On In My Kitchen,” which shows Moezinia can dole out a greasy blues lick with the best of ‘em. To his credit, the trio, together since 2017, possesses its own identity, with only the warm, lyrical rendering of “Don't Think Twice, It's All Right” calling to mind Bill Frisell's own trio versions of “Just Like a Woman” and John Hiatt's “Have a Little Faith in Me” from the 1993 album of the same name. Influences are audible on Folk Element Trio, but Moezinia and company stake out their own imaginative territory on this rewarding collection. That he covers such broad stylistic ground on the release without sacrificing cohesiveness is particularly impressive.

May 2021