Dan Weiss Trio Plus 1: Utica Box

Drummer Dan Weiss leads an unorthodox team with pianist Jacob Sacks along with a pair of bassists, Thomas Morgan and Eivind Opsvik. The songs range from concise themes by the bassists on tip of hat to a famed Funk Brother on “Jamerson” to long and edgy opuses like the odyssey “Utica Box”. The 17 minute piece waxes and wanes with elliptical piano, switching partners of duets of drums/bass, piano/bass and solo piano to prismatic colors and dark tones. Weiss steps out front as he drives home a tribute to the famed Led Zep drummer on “Bonham”. The team bops the most on “Rock and Heat” and plods and trudges to a Bad Plus feel on “Orange”. The extra bass is useful in many moments, adding hues to the shorter pieces, while the longer pieces sometimes feel like they should have been broken into more bite size segments.

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