Home » Jazz Articles » Extended Analysis » Craig Taborn Trio: Craig Taborn: Chants

Craig Taborn Trio: Craig Taborn: Chants

By John Kelman
April 16, 2013
View read count

While he's been making himself a ubiquitous presence on the jazz scene for the past two decades—playing with everyone from saxophonists

Tim Berne

saxophone, alto
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Tim Berne,

David Binney

saxophone, alto
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">David Binney and

" data-original-title="" title="">Chris Potter (on the equally stellar The Sublime And (Thirsty Ear, 2003), Graylen Epicenter (Mythology, 2011) and The Sirens (ECM, 2013), respectively), to bassists

Michael Formanek

bass, acoustic
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Michael Formanek and

Scott Colley

bass
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Scott Colley (whose Small Places (ECM, 2012) and Architect of the Silent Moment (Cam Jazz, 2007), respectively, were equally revelational)—pianist Craig Taborn's own discography as a leader has been surprisingly light. That said, Avenging Angel (ECM, 2011)—the pianist's first album under his own name since 2004's electro-centric Junk Magic (Thirsty Ear)—was a rare recording that redefined the approach to solo piano, easily placing it alongside the many other seminal solo recordings that, ranging from

Paul Bley

piano
1932 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Bley and

Keith Jarrett

piano
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Jarrett and to

Jon Balke

piano
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Jon Balke and

Francois Couturier

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Francois Couturier, have come to represent one of ECM's many cornerstones.

The piano trio is another cornerstone for the heralded German label and, with Chants, Taborn not only delivers another recording that easily stands alongside trio recordings like Jarrett's Setting Standards: New York Sessions (2008) box,

Stefano Battaglia

piano
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Stefano Battaglia's Songways (2013) and

Bobo Stenson

piano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobo Stenson's Indicum (2012); he's once again repurposed the format to suit his own needs. An album of all-original compositions that expands upon Avenging Angel's foundational premises by relying on motivic specificity as its basis, this time, for group exploration, from the opening "Saints," Taborn's complex contrapuntal writing encourages and inspires the kind of egalitarian interaction to which many aspire but few actually achieve.

Much of the reason for this success, beyond the pianist's own irrefutable acumen, is Taborn's chosen trio mates. Bassist

Thomas Morgan

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Thomas Morgan and drummer

Gerald Cleaver

drums
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerald Cleaver have, like Taborn, become increasingly visible on the label in recent years, both apart and as a team. In addition to work with bassist

Miroslav Vitous

bass
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Miroslav Vitous on Remembering Weather Report (2009) and Universal Syncopations II (2007), Cleaver has intersected with Taborn in both Michael Formanek's quartet and reed multi-instrumentalist

Roscoe Mitchell

saxophone
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Roscoe Mitchell's Note Factory, demonstrating a similarly encyclopedic reach. Meanwhile, Morgan's intuition and thoroughly selfless approach to shaping music was key to the success of pianist

Masabumi Kikuchi

piano
1939 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Masabumi Kikuchi's Sunrise (2012) and guitarist

John Abercrombie

guitar
1944 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">John Abercrombie's Wait Till You See Her (2009), but it's his joint work with Cleaver that has contributed to Wislawa (2013) being one of Polish trumpeter's

Tomasz Sta��ko

trumpet
1942 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Tomasz Sta��ko's best recordings since returning to the label in the mid-'90s.

A dark-hued album of sheltered beauty—even when the tempo picks up and things become more heated on tracks like "Beat the Ground"—the trio's effortless ability to navigate Taborn's often angular, sometimes densely constructed and periodically knotty compositions is all the more surprising for the amount of space that remains a key component of Chants. Even at its most seemingly impermeable, there's an unmistakable feeling of open air, whether it's Cleaver's delicate cymbal work or Morgan's sparsely chosen alternatives to Taborn's equally considered phrasing. Even as Taborn slowly builds an arpeggio-driven solo that intensifies without overstatement on "All True Night / Future Perfect," Cleaver's responsive drum rolls and cymbal crashes, and Morgan's robust alternatives—which gradually assume a more forward position in the mix—always feel empathically connected to the pianist, whose ability to explore and extrapolate upon his motivic ideas is never less than perfectly matched by his trio mates.

As ECM continues to draw attention to an American scene populated with imaginative, forward-thinking artists like Taborn, Morgan and Cleaver, alongside young-to-middle-aged peers like Tim Berne, Michael Formanek, Chris Potter, pianists

David Virelles

piano
b.1983

" data-original-title="" title="">David Virelles and

Jason Moran

piano
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Jason Moran, and trumpeter

Ralph Alessi

trumpet
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Ralph Alessi (who has a recording of his own forthcoming later this year), recordings like Chants make a strong case against those who suggest there's little of interest going on in the lower 48 states. In fact, based on recordings like this, Berne's Snakeoil (2012), Formanek's Small Places and the ongoing discographies of longstanding label mates like saxophonist

Charles Lloyd

saxophone
b.1938

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Lloyd, John Abercrombie and bassist

Mark Johnson

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Johnson—not to mention transatlantic projects like Sta��ko's New York Quartet and archival finds like bassist

Charlie Haden

bass, acoustic
1937 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Haden's trio with Norwegian saxophonist

Jan Garbarek

saxophone
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Jan Garbarek and Brazilian guitarist/pianist

Egberto Gismonti

guitar
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Egberto Gismonti, Magico—Carta de Amor (2012)—it's clear that, amidst the vast number of recordings being made each and every month, there's plenty of gold to be found—much of it here, on this label.

ECM's current preponderance of American artists like Taborn and albums like Chants only suggest that label head/producer

Manfred Eicher

" data-original-title="" title="">Manfred Eicher remains ever on the lookout for innovation and genre-bending, wherever it may be found. And though he's been a musician's musician for a long time, with the label's one-two punch of Avenging Angel, and now Chants, Taborn is finally getting the recognition and international push he so richly deserves. Beyond those who've known, for a long time, that there's very little—if anything—beyond his reach, Chants is an album that augments the label's already vast collection of piano trio recordings with an unmistakably personal album whose hidden beauty unveils itself further with each and every listen.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Saints; Beat The Ground; In Chant; Hot Blood; All True Night / Future Perfect; Cracking Hearts; Silver Ghosts; Silver Days Or Love; Speak The Name.

Personnel

Craig Taborn

piano

Craig Taborn: piano; Thomas Morgan: double bass; Gerald Cleaver: drums.

Album information

Title: Craig Taborn: Chants | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: ECM Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Winter Morning Walks
< Previous

New Life
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.