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Steve Davis may be the best drummer you never heard of. He is as much a visual as aural act, with arms and hands moving as fluidly as the sounds they create. He can be both lyrical and playful, bringing new life to a familiar standard such as his arrangement of “Seven Steps to Heaven.” Bassist Jay Anderson similarly is under-appreciated by the greater jazz audience. In this trio, he is as often out in front reprising the melody as pushing the pulse from the background; his very lyrical chops were particularly engaging on slow ballads such as “I Loves You Porgy” and Arriale’s original, “Home.”
Although quite capable of bringing some Tyner-esque chord structures to compositions such as “Esperanza,” Lynne Arriale is first and foremost a songwriter who starts and ends with exquisite melody, who wastes no notes in baring her soul. Her economy of line may make her music more accessible and more immediate, yet the music emanates a complexity created not by multiple layers of notes, but by multiple layers of emotion. And whether revisiting an original composition, deconstructing folk melodies or reinventing Monk, be it one hour or one year apart in time, neither heart nor mind are ever tugged in exactly the same direction. Each note, each nuance, is new life.
Beyond their undeniable individual talents, what truly stands out here is the interplay of the trio, which compares favorably to the best of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett. Watch their eye contact, their gestures, their synchrony. This is pas de trios. If one leads, the others follow, then trade roles, reverse the image, all in complementary colors, three voices, one mind. This threesome is bonded—they never leave the stage one at a time, but only after standing together. “Lean on Me,” especially given its joyful treatment on this night, is indeed a tribute to this collaboration of melody, harmony, and improvisation.
Once again, the Lynne Arriale Trio proves that the total is even greater than the sum of its magnificent parts.
Watch for the Motema release of “Come Together,” celebrating ten years of the Lynne Arriale Trio, later this summer.
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Twin Cities, MN 
Friday, 09 January 2009
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