Each new album in the budding discography of Canadian saxophonist, flutist, and composer Anna Webber sounds like a step forward in the nebulous intersection between avant-garde jazz and new classical music. The wryly titled simpletrio2000 is the third album by Webber’s Simple Trio, following the group’s sophomore release Binary (Skirl, 2016), and debut, Simple (Skirl, 2014). Initially formed in 2013, Simple Trio is Webber’s longest-running band. The ensemble, which includes drummer John Hollenbeck and pianist Matt Mitchell – both veteran composers and bandleaders – performs Webber’s intricate compositions with an attention to detail that is anything but simple, although the complex music is often delivered with a buoyant flair.
Each Simple Trio release has explored different facets of composition. Although rhythmic complexity has long been part of Webber’s arsenal, for the band’s third effort, she focuses on polyrhythms. The pieces are built on jagged, start-stop rhythms and the repetition of elaborate contrapuntal lines that lend the proceedings a sense of tension and release, rather than discord. Webber’s multi-sectional compositions often assign two musicians to notated scores while allowing the third to improvise. Although much of the music is spirited, the album includes moments of restraint that counterbalance more frenetic passages. The ten tracks also include short solo pieces spotlighting each member, providing additional moments of introspection amid tightly woven group interplay: the intervallic lyricism of “Fixed Do” for tenor saxophone; the dramatically hastening piano chord progression “g=GM/r2” (the formula for determining acceleration due to gravity); and the resounding tuned drums feature “Ch9tter.”
“Slingsh0t” opens the recording with chiming refrains that progress into a terse harmonic sequence underpinned by brisk tempos in oscillating rhythmic patterns. “Idiom VII” advances polyrhythmic dalliances even further, evoking phrases played simultaneously backwards and forwards as tempos rush and falter with impressive accuracy; the flute-driven “Foray” exudes similar microtonal drama. “Five Eateries (In New England)” evokes a range of Ivesian textures in Mitchell’s plunging lines, Hollenback’s angular groove, and the leader’s warm tenor. The pointillist opening of “miiire” and the slow burn of “8va” provide temporary respite, while the final cut, “Movable Do (La-La Bémol)” is built on a cyclical motif underpinned by a labyrinthine clockwork groove, as Webber and Mitchell take turns alternating lead and support positions.
Throughout the program, Webber switches between tenor saxophone, flute, and bass flute, directing the mood with an array of tone colors and extended techniques. Mitchell’s staccato chording imbues the music with a shimmering percussive quality, while Hollenbeck’s precise, orchestral drumming provides a solid foundation, irrespective of meter. Together these three offer a continued inquiry into the limits of Creative Improvised Music, tempered by a subtle sense of humor. Marking a decade since the unit premiered, simpletrio2000 confirms the group as one whose distinctive approach boldly continues to push the music forward in an unforced and satisfying manner.
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