Triio: Six-ish Plateaus
Elastic Recordings
Every jazz recording is critically determined by the pieces performed, the personnel involved, and the synergy between the participants. All three are critical factors in the case of Triio's second album, Six-ish Plateaus. Fronted by Toronto-based double bassist Alex Fournier, the outfit derives much of its character from the interactions between its members and how they navigate through the leader's challenging charts. Improvisation is central to the goings-on, which makes the contributions by each key to the result. Timbre is also a factor, with Fournier and drummer Stefan Hegerat grounding the expressions of woodwind players Bea Labikova (alto and soprano saxes) and Naomi McCarroll Butler (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax), guitarist Tom Fleming, and vibraphonist Michael Davidson.
After kicking off in an almost highlife-styled mode with Fleming's high-pitched plucks, “An Intrepid Toad” quickly settles into a bruising ensemble attack, the guitar scalding, the woodwinds voicing the theme together, and Fournier and Hegerat stoking the performance with muscularity. A smoky alto sax turn follows, the album's first solo flight of many. Here and elsewhere, Davidson provides a sparkling counterpoint to the others. With that opening salvo laid to rest, the sextet moves on to the title track, a skittish shapeshifter all tackle from different angles until it too assumes a defining shape. Slippery and serpentine, “Six-ish Plateaus” convulses through multiple episodes—entropic self-examination and energy bursts both—as it pursues its eight-and-a-half-minute journey. Don't be surprised if you're reminded of Tim Berne's music at various points along the trip, those especially where the saxes swirl and coil in entwining motion.
Fournier isn't afraid to challenge his bandmates with tricky time signatures, with the woozy ballad “Addenda/Agenda,” for example, unfolding in 5/4 and others similarly structured. Perpetuating the explorative tone, McCarroll Butler introduces “Tragic Leisure” with circular breathing patterns that the others build upon ponderously, the music first blossoming into a languorous, blues-tinged meditation and then a spirited, bop-inflected statement. The unpredictable character of the opening tracks reasserts itself for the closing “Saltlick City,” which wends a restless path through ensemble and sub-group expressions—Fournier bowing at times, alto sax and bass clarinet wailing, Davidson at his most spidery, and all embracing the freedom improv brings.
Produced by Fournier and laid down at Union Sound Company in late August 2021, Six-ish Plateaus signifies a noticeable advance in the project's evolution, the release coming three years after Triio's self-titled debut. In hindsight, that well-received set can be seen as a harbinger for the solid follow-up when the players sound even more comfortable operating within the contemporary jazz idiom embraced on the earlier release. The material Fournier's given them to work with is often intricate; execution, however, isn't stilted or tentative but rather energized and inspired. As serious as the music is, playfulness is present too. Every band aspires to establish an identity that distinguishes it from others. Triio succeeds in that regard when freewheeling woodwinds-and-vibraphone interplay and guitar interjections couple with the drummer and bassist's assured foundation.September 2022