Shawn Lovato

Zanussi 3
A Keen Beast
Sauajazz SAU 007

Double bass led, but without a double bass specific focus, these sessions are modern mainstream adaptation of the familiar saxophone/bass/drum configuration while adding a few tweaks of their own. Both consisting of young veterans, A Keen Beast is made up of three Norwegians, bassist Per Zanussi, drummer Per Oddvar Johansen and saxophonist Kristoffer Berre Alberts, each of whom has played with the likes of Susana Santos Silva, Christian Wallumrød and Gard Nilssen. Meanwhile New York bassist Shawn Lovato leads fellow American drummer Henry Mermer and German-American tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock through seven of his compositions. On their own each of the three have worked with Tom Rainey, Dave Adewumi and Michaël Attias.

Setting the pace with hard drum thumps, triple reed tonguing and thick string pumps, the Zanussi 3 hit the ground running during its live set and are soon creating their own variant on post-Bop. While some tunes like the concluding “Driftwake” pivot to understated story telling with arco bass slides, the majority are aggressive and percussive. For instance “Alto E Basso” evolves with pinched stops and slides from the saxophonist whose altissimo swells and pronounced double tonguing are matched by the bassist’s resonations. Drum paradiddles help move the yelping reed past andante to presto tempos, with Zanussi’s last minute downward stops moving the tune back to the head.

Preserving equanimity, the bassist may frequently express his arco and pizzicato prowess, and there’s also space for the frequent flutters, slurps and vibrations from Alberts who equally applies Free Jazz freneticism and Cool Jazz relaxation to his output. But that doesn’t mean the two don’t give the drummer some. On “Five” Johansen adopts a Latineque pulse that fits perfectly among the others’ light and linear projections. Then on “Space Phase”, part of the placed space is given over to the drummer’s tough Mylar top variations and cymbal clatter. Further hi-hat slaps balance the saxophonists up and down screeches and the bassist’s upward shales preserving linear expression.

More upfront than Zanussi, Lovato similarly apportions solo space for proper balance among the three players. That means that a tune such as “Inexorable” is defined as reflective reed timbres brush up against bass string reverb and harder drum wallops. On the other hand “Parachute Bloom​” maintains its thematic shape even as slurpy tenor saxophone lines and sul tasto bass string buzzes shifts tempo to andante only to further approximate the head with tandem reed-string backing.

Sometimes touching on more discordant timbres with tropes such as mixing arco string strains and irregularly vibrated honks from Laubrock, still most of the tunes are steadying and solid. Using the trio members’ weighted rattles, smacks, squeals and strums, slow burners and swift delineations are given the same treatment to encompass further variations in tempo and pitch. Working this way the trio never travels too far from the standard, but creates a definite identity while doing so.

Neither disc is earth shattering to be honest. But each captures the skill of seasoned professionals expressing their variants on swinging and sophisticated modern music.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Keen: 1. Murmuration 2. A Keen Beast 3. Fur Against Sky 4. Alto E Basso 5. Warp and Weft 6. Five 7. Space Phase 8. Driftwake

Personnel: Keen: Kristoffer Berre Alberts (alto and tenor saxophones); Per Zanussi (bass) and Per Oddvar Johansen (drums)

Track Listing: Biotic: 1. Spling 2. Frequent Flyer 3. One Step from Anything Easy 4. Patience and Hydration 5. Inexorable 6. Dirt Doesn’t Burn 7. Parachute Bloom​

Personnel: Biotic: Ingrid Laubrock (tenor saxophone); Shawn Lovato (bass) and Henry Mermer (drums)