Once again collaborating with his longtime associates pianist
Marilyn Crispell and drummer
Carmen Castaldi, saxophonist
Joe Lovano further explores Trio Tapestry's artfully spare, introspective sound on 2021's
Garden of Expression. The album is the successor to the group's 2019 eponymous debut which was, somewhat surprisingly,
Lovano's first album as a leader for the storied
ECM label. Having played with legendary
ECM artists in the past, including most notably
Lee Konitz and
Paul Motian,
Lovano's work with Trio Tapestry feels like a continuation of that style of progressive, classical-influenced jazz and fittingly brings to mind the sound of
ECM albums of the '70s and '80s. Tracks like "Chapel Song," "Night Creatures," and "West of the Moon" have an impressionistic quality, evoking the dream-like compositions of
Claude Debussy as
Lovano floats against
Crispell's rippling aquatic arpeggios. Equally enveloping is the title track, in which
Crispell's far-eyed chords and
Lovano's dusky tones conjure the '60s spiritual jazz of
John Coltrane and
Pharoah Sanders. What's also particularly compelling is just how important
Castaldi's drumming is to the trio's overall sound. Unmoored by a bass instrument,
Castaldi's buoyant, textural rhythms seem to suggest as much of a chordal center on any given song as
Crispell's playing. This is especially true in the trio's more free-leaning moments, as on "Dream on That'' in which the drummer kicks off a rambling call-and-response improvisation that goes from starkly atonal to thickly frenetic and back again. Always at the center of the trio, however, is
Lovano, whose warm, vocal-like tones and painterly phrases give the album the focused reverence and elevated emotionality of a church service. ~ Matt Collar