The profound and innovative virtuosity of each of these three protagonists on Deep Memory is always in in danger of gobbling up the other. But at no time is this evident on this recording. Barry Guy, Marilyn Crispell and Paul Lytton are all content in their own skins while strutting forth their individuality in these performances. The music gets interesting from the first bars of each of the pieces. Guy, Crispell and Lytton hold nothing back and each piece is played with controlled rhythmic fire, harmonic tricks and flaming melodies. I hear nothing ‘lyrical or contented’ or ‘sweetly ardent’ about any of this music. In each instance, thematic statements grow increasingly elaborate and the brilliance of Guy, Crispell and Lytton is incandescent with their leaping soli, deliberate ‘wrong note’ landing points and fiery scales it often feels as if the musicians are duking it out – tastefully, of course.

https://jazzdagama.com/music/intakt-adventure-continues/3/

Suspended between expressive romanticism and energetic atonality, the fourth CD by bassist Barry Guy, pianist Marilyn Crispell and drummer Paul Lytton (the latter pair both turning 70 this month) confirms the solidity of this sporadically assembled trio and its suitability as vehicle for Guy's compositions. Deep Memory's seven pieces throb with reflections on the draftsmanship and color application of selected works by British artist Hughie O'Donoghue, whose paintings provide the track titles and cover image.

O'Donoghue's highly abstracted figure paintings are musically echoed as the players meld swinging tonality with departures from the expected, yet never lose momentum. A tune such as "Return of Ulysses" balances Crispell's double-time kinetics with regularized patterns from the piano's lowest pitches, which maintain the theme even as she creates new variations, as if making indentations on cooling asphalt. Crispell was initially influenced by Cecil Taylor, so a piece like "Dark Days" approximates Taylor's jagged power, especially when coupled with Guy's spiccato string slices, but she is also enough of a melodicist to throw in references to the bagpipe air "The Campbells Are Coming".

"Sleeper", initially played with tortoise-lumbering deliberation, showcases the pianist's pedal-pressured soundboard vibrations plus hard patterns from Lytton. Cymbal smacks and piano glissandi prod the melody to triple its pace in its final two minutes.

Throughout the CD, the three are like fine art restorers of neglected canvases. The ambulatory allusions they bring to the material via buzzes, stretches and echoes sonically brighten themes suggested by O'Donoghue's mostly murky colors-a key instance of this is titled "Silenced Music" - communicative music due to the sophisticated interaction.