The trio Whirlpool consists of the interesting combination of Caroline Davis/as, Charles Rumback/dr and Jeff Swanson/g. Excepting Paul Motian’s title track, all of the songs are self composed and display a quiet lyricism and sensitive interplay. What could have been a series of rabbit trails leading to nowhere with such a sparse instrumentation instead is a symbiotic three way partnership of Davis’ spongy alto, Rumback’s conversant drums and Swanson’s lithe and linear guitar weaving in and around each other. Rumback rumbles under Davis’ floating horn on “Freedom Waves Flotilla” while Swanson’s delicate picking fills in spaces on “Dreamliner.” Some assertiveness subtly erupts on “Dragons in Denver” while bluesy lines by Swanson skip like a stone over the ruminating drums on “Raysh and Jonah. Davis’ tone sighs on “K-150” while the closing “That Day” mixes some guitar effects with spacious drums. Music that is reminiscent of lights reflecting off of a prism.
Ears and Eyes Records