Drummer Peter Erskine hasn’t spent all of his time with Big Band like Maynard Ferguson or Big Sounding Bands like Weather Report. From 1992-97 he lead an intuitive trio with pianist John Taylor and bassist Palle Danielsson. What’s remarkable about it is not only how lyrical it is, but how Erskine keeps himself in a highly disciplined fashion.
Most of the tunes of this 4 disc set are opened with Taylor’s piano, sometimes making you feel that something like “For Ruth” is actually a solo piece, but eventually Erskine comes in, usually with a gentle tap of the ride cymbal. Same with “Siri” as piano and bass have quite a go before Erskine makes his entrance at the end of the First Act, and even then, it’s almost not even noticed. His brush work on”Touch Her Heart” Is impressively delicate, while his snare drum intro to “Twelve” is tensile and well crafted. Wish I’d seen these guys in concert!