Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart
Perpetual Pendulum
★★★★☆
Thirty years is an aeon in jazz. The trio of Larry Goldings (organ), Peter Bernstein (guitar) and Bill Stewart (drums) are justly proud of having sustained a group for longer than many jazz lives, let alone bands. This celebratory album has each member contributing new and old tunes that take the trio down distinctive musical paths as well as a sprinkling of standards from Ellington, Shorter et al.
Bernstein is the jazz classicist of the three composers. His title track is an archetypal after-hours nocturne. A circumspect melody over a strolling groove, it has his coolly contemplative guitar taking a midnight meander over the asphalt cushion of the organ amid a sparkling constellation of drums. Little Green Men is a sprinting swinger yielding delirious improvs from the guitar and organ, culminating in a tumultuous drum explosion.
Stewart’s pieces take the trio into edgier territory. On Lurkers the drummer lays down a jagged backbeat as Goldings and Bernstein sneak in with the theme. The organ solo evokes the slipperiness of Larry Young with a touch of Big John Patton’s greasy soul. The drummer trumps that spikiness with FU Donald, where a fractious funk riff over nagging rimshots leads the trio into a flurry of avant-garde arguments.
As for Goldings, his two tunes rework a couple of classics. Let’s Get Lots is a wistful ballad variation on the oldie Let’s Get Lost; the organist is robustly romantic here. Prelude is Gershwin’s Prelude No 2 turned into a laconic blues, a B3 trio’s comfort zone, and this one is in its element. Among the real classics Come Rain or Come Shine is the most pleasing with its pitter-patter tempo and sunny soloing. Here’s to the next 30 years. (Smoke Sessions)
