The number one thing a musician desires is to have his own personal sound.Bassist Peacock, whether it’s within the trio work with Keith Jarrett or on his own leadership, is identifiable within two plucks on his strings; bright, warm, concise and incisive, he leads, weaves and directs from his axe with a railroad engineer with Marc Copland/b and Joey Baron/dr on this rich album.
The band is highly intuitive and communicative, with Baron judiciously using his sticks and brushes like a Monet as he taps and strokes the cymbals, high hat and sides of the snare on suavely swinging pieces like “Contact” the chiming “December Greenwings” and “Talkin’ Blues” while Peacock snaps through the piano and drums like a superball bouncing over a busy interstate. Copland is rich and flowing, elegiac on “Blue in Green” and post bopping like Bud on “Tempei Tempo.” Peacock gets a deep pluck out of “Tangents” and the team works like a three member jai alai team during “Empty Forest.” Clever musical veerings in a jazz roundabout.
ECM Records