Craig Taborn, Nels Cline, Marcus Gilmore

While the jazz world may or may not be clamoring for a Craig Taborn ProgRock/funk record, Trio of Bloom is probably the closest he’ll get to it. That’s because the pianist, known for his mostly acoustic work with everyone from Mat Maneri to Roscoe Mitchell, fully utilizes a variety of electronic keyboards on this CD’s 11 tracks.

He couldn’t have picked better partners since both straddle the rock/funk/jazz divide. Guitarist Nels Cline may be part of Wilco, but also worked with Vinny Golia. Meanwhile drummer Marcus Gilmore has been involved with players as different as Vijay Iyer and Robert Glasper.

Electric oscillations don’t mean sounds have to be obvious however. On the all-improvised title track for instance, the percussionist’s bell-tree and reverberating spring-like textures enhanced with electronic whooshes whiz and wiggle beside a moody melody created by guitar and keyboard stops backed by drum shuffles.

Gilmore may be a master of prestissimo thumps and sustained press rolls, but he expresses them with the same sophisticated facility on “Queen King” where elevated electric harpsichord splashes accompany Cline’s slide from steel guitar-like licks to echoing flanges as on “Nightwhistlers”. The latter finds Taborn’s processed glissandi so closely doubling the guitarist’s bluesy echoes and rock-like whammies that it’s difficult to establish from which instrument supercharged phrases emanate.

The disc isn’t all controlled bombast either. “Diana” is a respectful acoustic reading of the Wayne Shorter ballad where Cline’s rounded tones sounds like 1950s guitarist Johnny Smith. Terje Rydal’s “Bend It” revisits the 1970s fusion era in a good way as Cline’s intricate string buzzes and detours are perfectly positioned within the doomy theme projected by synthesized  keyboard swoops and hard, not monotonous thumps from the drummer. The conclusion dissolves with an electronic drone.

Despite the affiliations perfected with the others on Trio of Bloom, Taborn isn’t likely to neglect the germinations expressed in his other programs of straight ahead, notated and pure improv. Yet in this trio he demonstrates that with the right players populist interpretations can be created with the same formulation and finesse as other sounds. For more info visit pyroclasticrecords.com

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Nightwhistlers 2. Unreal Light 3. Breath 4. Queen King* 5. Diana 6. Bloomers 7. Eye Shadow Eye 8. Why Canada  9. Forge 10. Bend It* 11. Gone Bust

Personnel: Craig Taborn (keyboards); Nels Cline 6-and 12-string guitars, lap steel guitar, bass*) and Marcus Gilmore (drums and percussion)