Year after year saxophonist Chris Speed is a model of craftsmanship and carefully sculpted expression. He’s honed a gorgeous sound on tenor saxophone, adapting the silken generosity of Lester Young with a thoroughly modern conception, both harmonically and in terms of ensemble sound. Together with drummer Dave King and bassist Christ Tordini he’s a stunning sound sculptor, spinning narratives that always avoid sharp edges and sudden turns even if they are underpinned by delicious ambiguity. His tune “Sunset Park in July,” a patient, heartfelt expression for the titular New York hood written from his adapted Los Angeles home was one of the most beautiful things I heard all year, but since it’s not streaming you could a lot worse than checking out his limber “Uncomfortable Truths,” bounding over kit-spread chatter and warm, woody double stops.

Derde album intussen voor het trio van Chris
Speed met bassist Chris
Tordini en drummer
Dave King, die intussen ook een maat is bij The Bad Plus. Rietblazer
Speed blijft intussen wel gewoon zichzelf, met die droge, lichtjes verkouden tenorsaklank en die afwisseling van schijnbaar achteloos rondgestrooide halve
melodieën en slingerende lijnen die ter plekke bedacht lijken, maar toch uit de koker van de leider komen. Tordini en King hebben een vergelijkbare attitude: deze interactie voelt aan alsof de muzikanten bovenal een ontspannen, ongeforceerde
interactie opzoeken.

Chris Speed Trio
Ondanks obstakels
Intakt CS404 (CD, DL) ****
Chris Speed (ts, cl), Chris Tordini (b) en
Dave King (d). Rec. April en juli; 2022
Het oorspronkelijke idee voor
Chris Speed's
huidige trio -
van drummer Dave
King, nu beiden
opgenomen in de nieuw geformeerde
The Bad Plus, en bassist Chris
"Tordini - volgens Speed was
om in een jazz-trio wereld te blijven en
meer op swing gebaseerde muziek te spelen.
Dat is een onverwachte afwisseling
voor de saxofonist, die
een integraal onderdeel was van de
innovatieve downtown scene
alt-jazzbands als Tim Berne,
Jim Black, Human Feel en
Claudia Quintet.
Hoewel Speed geen rechttoe
ahead-er is, zijn geheel eigen nummers op het
het derde album van het trio zeker een hint naar
de reuzen van de modernistische azz
afkomst dan enig ander
eerder genoemde werk. Speed
opent met een sterk Mr Wierd-achtig
meditatiethema op Advil, en hij
laat solo elke noot tellen,
terwijl het folky Rollins-achtige
Uncomfortable Truths' is tegelijkertijd
direct en verkennend is.
Speed's lenige maar slappe, zure toon
op tenor komt meer naar voren in de
sax-bas-drums trio, de
de hypnotiserende Tordini en King
vullen het uitstekend aan met lage
brommende frequenties en
kolkende percussieve geluiden.
Speed's ballad 'Sunset Park in.
July' heeft de Navour van gelijknamige
getitelde standards, met een echo van Autumn
in New York in het bijzonder, zijn
old-school tenor stembuigingen
iets meligs vermijdend, terwijl
hij reist onvoorspelbaar
door een mooie set originelen.

Avec ces quatres disques il y a de quoi nourrir les oreilles et leur faire oublier le bruit du vent dans les feuilles qui déjà tombent.

https://culturejazz.fr/spip.php?article4050

"Despite Obstacles" inizia con una frase beffarda in "Advil" che potrebbe aver abitato la testa di Sonny Rollins qualche decennio fa: uno di quei profili melodico-rit-mici che incuriosiscono, strappano un sorriso e per di più servono come ottimi trampolini di lancio per torrenziali im-provvisazioni. Chris Speed è un uomo col senso della storia, e la storia ormai abita con agio anche il suo percorso: il suo trio compie dieci anni di attività, questo è il settimo disco per la label svizzera e il terzo con l'organico comprendente gli eccellenti Dave King alla batteria e Chris Todini al basso. Ci si augura che il percorso conti-nui, perché il sassofonista e clarinettista sta vivendo una maturità di suono e di poetica smagliante.
Nessuna sorpresa, quindi, che assieme a Dave King - qui fondamentale perno ritmico - Speed sia oggi anche protagonista dei rinnovati The Bad Plus, una delle formazioni più versatili della scena jazz contemporanea attenta anche a declinazioni di suono "popular". Nulla di tutto questo, in
"Despite Obstacles": il sax tenore (e nella conclusiva "Amos" il clarinetto) di Speed ripercorre con sapienza in brani piuttosto brevi una via maestra della modernità segnata dai passi pesanti di John Coltrane, di Sonny Rollins, di Joe Henderson, ma c'è anche un rivendicato recupero della grazia aerea e angolare di Lester Young, maestro del gioco sul tempo; è lo stesso Speed a farlo presente quando spiega che qui il fatto consistente è "porsi nel solco di una musica che ritrovi più pulsazione swing". Certo, non aspettatevi mero citazionismo calli-
grafico: l'incrocio di tempi dispari "impos-sibili" in coda alla title track mostra che coraggio e storia vanno benissimo assieme.

Warum denkt man bei Tenorsax, Bass, Schlagzeug immer zuerst an Sonny Rollins und sein Trio aus den späten 50ern? Eine rhetorische Frage, dort liegt ja der Urgrund dieser Besetzung ohne Harmonieinstrument, das damals mehr Optionen auftat und mehr Beweglichkeit forderte. Rollins hatte damals mit Oscar Pettiford und Max Roach für seine Freedom Suite überragendes Personal zur Verfügung.
Das ist zweifellos eine Parallele zum Chris Speed Trio mit Chris Tordini und Dave King. Man wollte wieder einmal mehr swingende Sounds produzieren, meint Speed im Booklet, wie immer bei Intakt, sehr sorgfältig gestaltet und ziemlich informativ.
Die vier- bis fünfminütigen Miniaturen haben auch meist eine einleitende Melodie, knappe solistische Beiträge, ab und zu ein kleines Schlagzeug-Break. Das ist natürlich fantastisch, präzise und schlüssig musiziert, wirkt aber ein wenig unfertig und unentschlossen. Das Vermögen der Beteiligten hätte zweifellos ausführlichere und tiefere Diskurse ermöglicht. Aber Sunset Park in July (Track 5) erweckt schon romantische Gefühle, das kann auch nicht jeder.

Los Angeles-based saxophonist and clarinetist Chris Speed (a native of Seattle) was a mainstay of the New York scene for years. Besides recording under his own name and co-leading several projects (Human Feel, Pachora, Endangered Blood, etc.) he has also contributed to such groups as Tim Berne’s Bloodcount, Jim Black’s AlasNoAxis, and John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet. Speed has also led a trio for a number of years, featuring drummer Dave King and bassist Chris Tordini. Speed and King first met in 2000, well before Speed was recruited for the Dave King Trucking Company (the Bad Plus drummer’s side project), but more recently, Speed joined a revamped quartet version of The Bad Plus. Speed later met Tordini through Jim Black in 2006.
Despite Obstacles is the trio’s fourth outing, following Really OK (Skirl, 2014), Platinum On Tap (Intakt, 2017), and Respect For Your Toughness (Intakt, 2019). The trio’s three previous albums each included cover tunes, but here the songs are all originals. Speed’s writing is memorable and to the point; only one tune exceeds five minutes, and six of the eight tracks begin with the theme. The written material is concise, and the improvisations are brief.
While Speed’s melodic writing is accessible, odd meters abound, with more than one tune in five (“Wrangled,” “In the Wild,” and “Lone Satellite”) as well as in 11, like “Despite Obstacles,” where the time signature shifts from 11/8 to 11/4. “I think all those years trying to learn Bulgarian music rubbed off,” Speed says wryly in the liner notes. Nevertheless, it takes a virtuosic rhythm section to make asymmetrical rhythms sound so natural.
The group sounds relaxed on the opener, “Advil,” which combines emotive power and rhythmic finesse. Straight out of the gate, the trio balances Speed’s velvety tenor tone and lean vibrato with the energy of King’s flinty grooves. Tordini holds down the low-end, as Speed gradually works variations from the elegant theme. Whether fragmented or fluid, Speed’s incisive phrases are lyrically captivating.
Recalling a pre-war ballad, “Wrangled” is even more enigmatic. Navigating a beat in five, Speed’s tone is warm and his slow, simmering solo contrasts with the theme’s displaced rhythms, as King and Tordini work their way through surprising twists and turns. A poised approach to rhythm and harmony is also displayed on “Uncomfortable Truths,” which starts tranquil, but as King expands the groove, embellishing cymbals and toms with metallic and muted tones, Speed unveils one new plaintive motif after another. The titular cut has Speed probing inside and outside a locked rhythm and “Lone Satellite” sounds similarly spontaneous.
There are also two traditional-sounding numbers in “Sunset Park in July,” a luminous ballad, and “Amos,” which features Speed swinging sweetly on clarinet. The lyrical tenderness that characterizes the former finds Speed exploring breathy tonal variations, while Tordini’s rich tone and the drummer’s mischievous accents impart an elegant modesty.
As Kevin Whitehead astutely points out in the liner notes, “Some saxophonists use trios to stretch way out. Chris Speed has other ideas. ‘I gravitate to getting to the point – featuring the song.’” Emblematic of this balanced approach, Speed’s playing has seemingly become more focused over the years. Although in truth, he still sounds like the same adventurous player who arrived on the scene three decades ago.

https://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD84/PoD84MoreMoments5.html

Chris Speed (saxophone ténor, clarinette) est un acteur majeur dans le domaine des musiques improvisées depuis une trentaine d’années. Que ce soit sous son nom ou aux côtés de musiciens tels Uri Caine, Michael Formanek ou Tim Berne (entre autres), on ne compte plus le nombre d’œuvres marquantes auxquelles Speed a participé. Un de ses projets est ce trio qu’il a formé il y a une dizaine d’années. Depuis son début, la composition du groupe n’a pas changé, à savoir, aux côtés de Chris Speed, Chris Tordini (contrebasse) et Dave King (batterie), soit deux autres musiciens éminents de la scène new-yorkaise (signalons, par exemple, que Dave King est un des membres fondateurs de The Bad Plus qui accueille maintenant en son sein un certain Chris Speed…). Ce « Despite Obstacles » est déjà le quatrième album pour ce trio (rappelons les « Really OK » de 2014, « Platinum on Tap » de 2017 et « Respect for Your Thoughtness » de 2019) qui présente huit compositions originales (toutes signées Chris Speed). Comme on peut s’en douter, le groupe fait preuve d’une grande cohésion, avec une section rythmique soutenant à la perfection le travail d’improvisation de Speed. Ceci étant, on pourrait rester quelque peu sur sa faim devant ces courtes compositions (une seule dépasse les 5 minutes), empêchant un développement plus intense des titres et donnant, parfois, une impression de « simplicité ». À ce sujet, Speed explique : « Je préfère aller à l’essentiel, c’est-à-dire présenter la chanson. J’aime explorer et ouvrir les choses, mais il faut qu’elles soient directes ». En résumé, très bon nouvel album de Chris Speed et de son trio, avec la petite réserve émise ci-dessus, mais qui est assez minime (par rapport à toutes les qualités du disque).

https://jazzmania.be/chris-speed-trio-despite-obstacles/

After ten years in action, the Chris Speed Trio gets to the gist

In his own projects and his collaborations with others, tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Chris Speed often makes music with a compounded quality, as though he and his associates are trying to concentrate as much information as possible into the available space. Human Feel packed the divergent aesthetics of four strong players into each tune; Pachora combined jazz with the hurtling velocity and idiosyncratic rhythms of Balkan folk; and Tim Berne’s Bloodcount used open-ended, contrapuntal epics to test the limits of the performers’ stamina and imaginations. But the Chris Speed Trio, which has been extant for ten years, distills jazz to its essentials. Speed’s vision of the genre is inclusive: the group’s 2017 release, Platinum on Tap, features compositions by Tin Pan Alley songwriter Hoagy Carmichael and free-jazz titan Albert Ayler. But no matter where the tune comes from, it has to be clear and emotionally communicative. Speed is patient; witness his painstakingly tender treatment of the original ballad “Sunset Park in July” on the trio’s new album, Despite Obstacles (Intakt). But he’s also pithy, prioritizing the integrity of a melody over whatever exploratory opportunities it might present. And no matter what contrary elements bassist Chris Tordini (who’s also worked with Lee Konitz and Angelika Niescier) and drummer Dave King (who also plays with Speed in the Bad Plus) sneak into their accompaniment, the trio sustains a graceful, swinging rhythmic foundation.

https://chicagoreader.com/music/after-ten-years-in-action-the-chris-speed-trio-gets-to-the-gist/

Intakt has long been a rich source of American
jazz of an adventurous stripe. The Swiss label’s
recent releases include two prime examples of
bold New York artists, saxophonist Chris Speed
and pianist David Virelles, stating their artistic
cases beyond stifling mainstream standards.
The empathetic relationship between Speed
and drummer Dave King has by now gone public
through the enrollment of Speed in King’s
long-standing band the Bad Plus. Speed seems
ideal in his new front-line position, supplying
restraint, wit and heat when needed. Such
qualities are also reflected in King’s playing, as
heard on Despite Obstacles, the third release by
the “chordless” Chris Speed Trio.
Speed leads the session with a benevolent
and democratic hand. His soft touch and
muted tone on tenor, even on the more intense
passages, serves him well on his lyrical-yet-angular
ballad “Sunset Park In July” and gives
distinction to more energetic terrain, as on
“Uncomfortable Truths” and the title track.
On Carta, Virelles brings his own brand of
poise and artful economy to the more common,
but ever-malleable context of the classic
piano trio format, in tight collaborative esprit
de corps with bassist Ben Street and drummer/
percussionist Eric McPherson. Improvisation
plays a key role in the eight tracks, but always in
service of the songs.
As with other bedazzlements in Virelles’
discography, the pianist is carving out a fascinating
new musical pathway to call his own.
Cuban roots freely intermarry with touchpoints
of jazz history (including the present moment),
with measured virtuosity and deep musicality
in check. Virelles’ piano work impresses without
distracting from the prime directive: heeding
the musical integrity of the song set as an
almost narrative whole. —Josef Woodard