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Markus Burger / Joe LaBarbera / Bob Magnusson: Accidental Tourists: The L.A. Sessions

By Dan McClenaghan
October 29, 2012
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Markus Burger / Joe LaBarbera / Bob Magnusson: Accidental Tourists: The L.A. Sessions

Sometimes a definite connect exists between cover art and the music. German-born pianist Markus Burger's Accidental Tourists: The L.A. Sessions features a glossy cover photo full of reflections and right angle geometry, a sleek car with rounded contours. The music on this trio offering has a well-crafted geometry of its own, and a bright sheen brought out by Burger's clean, crisp touch and engagingly cerebral melodic sense, along with an exquisite feel for deep harmonies.

Burger's first recorded piano trio session reveals a player from pianist

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans' art of the trio school. Like Evans, Burger has picked his sidemen well. Bassist

Bob Magnusson

bass, acoustic
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Magnusson—a hugely talented musician in the jazz and classical worlds—is a veteran with a "worked-with-damned-near-everyone" resume, including his contributions to several of alto saxophonist

Art Pepper

saxophone, alto
1925 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Pepper's late career recordings. His big, powerful sound—huge notes with a slight fuzz of sustain in them seem to anticipate Burger's every move; and drummer Joe LaBarbera—a member of pianist Bill Evans' late career trio—adds the perfect subtle textures and detailed accents to the sound.

The set opens with Burger's "Grolnicks," for pianist/composer

Don Grolnick

piano
1947 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Grolnick (1947-1996). The tune has a light feeling, with a very pretty and memorable melody, and exquisite trio interplay in its wax and wane momentum.

Four of the twelve tunes are from Burger's pen, including the buoyant "Air Canada," the floating "Black Sea Pearl," and prickly snap-and-pop "Rodeo Drive Hustler." The first cover of the disc,

George Gershwin

composer / conductor
1898 - 1937

" data-original-title="" title="">George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" is a highlight. It's often covered—by, among many others, pianists Bill Evans and

Jessica Williams

piano
1948 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Jessica Williams—and covered well. A small masterpiece of a tune, it has never sounded lovelier than it does here in the hands of this trio. Burger's unhurried, no-wasted-notes approach, Magnusson's thick foundation and LaBarbera's whispering brushes bring out a sense of sweet longing tinged with a bit of sadness.

Other covers include a light-stepping take on Jerome Kern's "In Love in Vain" and a delicate and brittle exploration of the

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis/Bill Evans jewel, "Blue in Green." But in the end, with the exception of "I Loves You Porgy," it's the Burger tunes that grab the ear—infectious, well-crafted compositions played by a stellar trio.

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Track Listing

Grolnicks; Air Canada; Black Sea Pearl; Full Circle; I Loves You Porgy; Rodeo Drive Hustler; In Love In Vain; Inspektor Bauton; the Old Country; One World; Morning Smile.

Personnel

Markus Burger

piano

Markus Burger: piano; Joe LaBarbera: drums; Bob Magnusson: bass.

Album information

Title: Accidental Tourists: The L.A. Sessions | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Challenge Records

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