John Taylor, Marc Johnson, Joey Baron: Tramonto

Contemporary Jazz / Piano Trios
premiera polska: 2025-09-19
kontynent: Europa
opakowanie: Jewelcaseowe etui
opis:
Opis wydawcy
Album ,,Tramonto” powstał podczas trasy Contemporary Music Network w 2002 roku – to nagranie występu w Birmingham, na którym John Taylor (1942-2015) przedstawił nowe trio składające się z Marca Johnsona (kontrabas) oraz Joeya Barona (perkusja) – wybitny i dynamiczny ansambl współpracował później również przy szeroko uznawanym wydawnictwie ECM – albumie ,,Rosslyn”. Na ,,Tramonto” znalazły się świetnie znane kompozycje autorstwa Taylora, tytułowy track napisany przez Ralpha Townera i utwór Steve’a Swallowa ,,Up Too Late”. Album ten jest wspaniałym świadectwem wyjątkowej kreatywności i wysokiego poziomu wykonawstwa Johna Taylora.
John Taylor związany był z ECM już od 1977 roku, w którym sformułował legendarny zespół Azimuth – jazzowe trio, w którego skład wchodził wraz z Normą Winstone oraz Kennym Wheelerem. Taylor był instrumentalistą sceny międzynarodowej i zostanie zapamiętany jako muzyk należący do czołówki najlepszych klawiszowców jazzowych.

UK.JazzNews
To zagnieżdżona historia mistrza ceremonii rozgrywająca się w czasie rzeczywistym. Czuć ekscytację, jaka towarzyszy rozwijaniu się wydarzeń, połączenie pewności siebie i delikatności niezbędnej do ich realizacji. To skarbnica pomysłów, rozmów, wirtuozerii i empatycznej wymiany zdań. Przy doskonałej jakości dźwięku, zastanawiam się, dlaczego ten dokument powstawał tak długo?

UK.JazzNews
I’ve never been to Rainbow Studios in Oslo, but it’s my impression that when you go in there as a trio you become a quartet. That sound is your fourth member, a collaborator with which one must work tactfully and pragmatically. Rosslyn, the ECM album that John Taylor, Marc Johnson and Joey Baron would go on to make after this live recording, saw the band dropping small gestures into reverberant space and is, in its own way, a very beautiful record. These players are well versed in the ECM aesthetic, but there have long been rumours amongst musicians wondering if there might be some outtakes where things got a little more…fruity. This Birmingham concert recording, expertly captured by engineer Curtis Schwartz in 2002, is therefore a huge discovery akin to finding buried frescos depicting ancient Roman space travel.
This band is full of history. Taylor steers close to Bill Evans’s influence, a pianist with whom Marc Johnson enjoyed a fruitful collaboration at the end of the pianist’s career. Baron might seem like the wildcard, for those who know him primarily from associations with Bill Frisell, John Zorn and Tim Berne, but he also plays with Fred Hersch’s trio. Johnson’s band, “Bass Desires” included Baron’s employer Bill Frisell in its line-up. There are many branches to this collective family tree and, with no producer to finesse the overall direction of the gig, it sprawls in gleeful untidiness in all directions.
From the opening “Pure and Simple”, Taylor seems to be revelling in this boiling pot: following a typically impressionistic introduction, Johnson’s huge sound and Baron’s disciplined groove combine on the head, only to splinter into three separate voices in the solos. This feels very reminiscent of the Evans/LaFaro/Motian trio in approach, but these are more skittish exchanges, moving speedily from one gesture to another. Purity and simplicity don’t really describe the labyrinth this tune opens, and then Baron and Johnson lurch into a walking groove, and we see another dimension again: a grid-like “Giant Steps” character in its harmonic restlessness. Baron’s exchanges with Taylor stay within the pulse but alternate frenetically dense walls of toms with spacious wit. When the head returns, Taylor realises that, with all this activity, the tempo has dropped and simply speeds it (very obviously) up…it’s one of my favourite moments of the whole record.
“Between Moons” is an Evans-like sequence of cadences bookended with Taylor’s trademarked walls of colour. Baron’s presence illuminates everything – hints of backbeat and splashes imply asymmetries simply by not filling the space, and at the end a chiming cymbal is allowed to run on long after the piece has ended: every idea, once introduced, is given its space.
“Up Too Late” by Steve Swallow is, as with much of his music, disarmingly simple and straightforwardly wonky. Baron’s backbeat throws everything off the grid, Johnson walks against it as Taylor colours in the theme with complex resonances. As the solo progresses, Taylor pushes to the edge of his language, and on a purely technical as well as musical level, this is astounding piano playing. Johnson’s viola-like bowed entry exemplifies both the strangeness of his imagination and his sheer chops. And Baron yet again seems to take a single sound and gradually explode it, gentle hi-hats turning into a drum ‘n’ bass groove peppered with strange, scraping noises. Johnson’s strange lopsided articulation then brings us into yet another sonic world, creepy and foot tapping. It’s a tribute to the generosity of Swallow’s music that it must be messed around with to find its true value, as if he’s handing the credit to the musicians. They certainly earn it here.
“Tramonto” comes as a relief almost, a beautiful tune played without ego, emphasising something often overlooked in jazz: that simple rendition is one of the simple pleasures of playing music.
“Ambleside” could be somewhere in the Middle East here: Taylor is a master of the hands-on prepared piano, and his hands could be Baron’s here, beating rhythms on the cast iron frame and resonating strings of the piano: the drummer leaves him to it, but he takes a solo that is like a piece in itself. It’s a nested story from a master composer in real time, as is Taylor’s murky coda. You can feel the excitement of things unfolding, the combination of assurance and delicacy needed to pull it off.
I could go on: this is the kind of record where you must type as you listen or you miss things. It’s a treasure trove of ideas, conversations, virtuosity and empathic exchange. With excellent sound quality throughout, I wonder why this document took so long to emerge? I suspect, if this was a two-set gig, that there’s more music buried on someone’s hard drive somewhere, more exquisite frescos waiting to be unearthed.
by Liam Noble

All About Jazz * * * *
British pianist John Taylor (1942-2015) possessed a remarkable talent for eluding the global recognition his skills warranted. A former house pianist at London's Ronnie Scott's club, Taylor probably achieved his widest acclaim through Azimuth, the group he formed with vocalist Norma Winstone (his wife) and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. His trio recordings with drummer Peter Erskine and bassist Palle Danielsson further cemented his reputation.
Tramonto captures Taylor in another trio setting, this time collaborating with American musicians bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron. Their chemistry works; Taylor's playing frequently reflects Bill Evans' influence, while Johnson brings the unique perspective of having been Evans' final bassist. Baron (recently heard on Fred Hersch's The Surrounding Green (ECM Records, 2025)) demonstrates ideal intuition for Taylor's unpredictable musical directions. Recorded in Birmingham, UK, in 2002, this session preceded their collaboration on the highly praised Rosslyn (ECM, 2003) album, which they would record a few months later in Oslo, Norway.
The concert programme features three Taylor originals alongside Steve Swallow's "Up Too Late" and Ralph Towner's "Tramonto." Opening with his own composition, the up-tempo "Pure and Simple," Taylor heads towards the improvisational side with off-center rhythms and long, condensed passages overflowing with invention and unforeseen turns, with Baron adding earthy drum interventions.
Those long, flowing piano runs continue on another Taylor original, "Between Moons;" this time a contemplative, moody atmosphere prevails, with some sumptuous interplay with Johnson's resonant bass lines (see the attached YouTube for the version that appeared on Rosslyn). "Up Too Late" follows; the composition opens with bright rhythmic piano before briefly focusing into a groove. Taylor's driving improvisations occasionally hint towards a melody or a familiar pattern but never settle there. Johnson's arco bass and Baron's inventive drumming bring additional spice to the mix.
Towner's ballad "Tramonto" is a quiet delight. Introduced by Johnson's intensely focused bass solo, piano then bass take the lyrical melody further before Taylor's Bill Evans influence comes to the fore as he melds sadness and optimism into the harmonic structure. "Ambleside," a 15-minute saga involving arco bass, bright, up-tempo rhythmic piano and fiery drum eruptions, forms a terrific closer to the album.
Taylor was a world-class jazz pianist who balanced elegant, graceful phrasing with densely concentrated note clusters in his improvisations. His inventive lines consistently opened new directions, creating opportunities for Johnson and Baron to show their individualalities. The trio's interplay pulses with free-flowing vitality as they navigate between lyrical passages and intricate explorations, displaying remarkable collective imagination throughout this concert.
By Neil Duggan

Editor's info
Recorded live in Birmingham during a Contemporary Music Network tour in 2002, "Tramonto" features British pianist John Taylor (1942-2015) in a festive, exuberant mood with one of his most dynamic and quick-witted groups, consisting of US musicians Marc Johnson and Joey Baron - the energetic team who later collaborated on the critically acclaimed ECM recording "Rosslyn".
The repertoire includes the well-known Taylor pieces "Pure and Simple", "Between Moons" and "Ambleside" (in an epic 15-minute version) as well as the title track composed by Ralph Towner and Steve Swallow's "Up Too Late", which moves from bop phrasing to free playing and features a bowed solo from Johnson and shimmering drums from Baron. Overall, a welcome reminder of what a creative force John Taylor could be as the leader of an outstanding piano trio.

muzycy:
John Taylor: Piano
Marc Johnson: Double Bass
Joey Baron: Drums

utwory:
1. Pure and Simple (John Taylor) 09:44
2. Between Moons (John Taylor) 09:00
3. Up Too Late (Steve Swallow) 12:17
4. Tramonto (Ralph Towner) 08:00
5. Ambleside (John Taylor) 15:11

wydano: Sep 19, 2025
nagrano: January 2002, CBSO Centre, Birmingham

more info: www.ecmrecords.com