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Mario Pavone Dialect Trio: Philosophy

By Mark Corroto
September 20, 2019
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In his review of their debut Chrome (Playscape Recordings, 2013), my learned colleague at All About Jazz, Dan McClenaghan described

Mario Pavone

bass
1940 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Mario Pavone's Dialect Trio as "a beautiful tumult." That description expanded with the trio's sophomore disc Blue Dialect (Clean Feed, 2015) and maybe further with their latest Philosophy. The maelstrom they foment is partly explained by their schedules. Drummer

Tyshawn Sorey

drums
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Tyshawn Sorey is a composer of jazz and new classical music and multi-instrumentalist—check out his piano chops on That/Not (Firehouse 12 Records, 2007. He can be heard in multiple settings with artists like

Roscoe Mitchell

saxophone
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Roscoe Mitchell,

John Zorn

saxophone, alto
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">John Zorn,

Vijay Iyer

piano
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Vijay Iyer, and

Myra Melford

piano
b.1957

" data-original-title="" title="">Myra Melford. Likewise pianist

Matt Mitchell

piano
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Matt Mitchell is listed on just about every other creative jazz recording released since 2012. Turn an LP over and you will read his name in the lineups of

Tim Berne

saxophone, alto
b.1954

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

Dave Douglas

trumpet
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Douglas,

Anna Webber

saxophone, tenor
b.1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Anna Webber,

Jonathan Finlayson

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Jonathan Finlayson,

John Hollenbeck

drums
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">John Hollenbeck, and

Steve Coleman

saxophone, alto
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Steve Coleman, to name just a few.

"Busy working artists" doesn't begin to describe Sorey and Mitchell. Maybe that is why an elder statesman like Pavone choses to employ the pair. Their ferment is his fodder for composing and performing. Five of the eight tracks are his originals, plus two, "Circles" and "The Beginning" by

Annette Peacock

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Annette Peacock, and the group improvisation "Everything There Is." The latter piece repeatedly fractures and attempts to move in differing directions like escaped convicts chained together. Ultimately, they recognize the trio's objectives and cooperate, sort of. It is this audacity that Pavone values in his partners. The same cheek you might hear in

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk's music turns up on "Two Thirds Radial." Borrowing some of Monk's 'wrong notes,' Mitchell gallops a-glop while Pavone swings and Sorey reinvents the space-time continuum. Pavone is a master of dynamic music. He applies a fresh internal logic to compositions like "Iskmix" and "8-18-18" that is not satisfied with constant time or direction. The exception here is the somber "Circles," a painstakingly quiet rendition which gives way to the brief and frenzied "The Beginning." This is challenging, fulfilling, and satisfying music.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

8/18/18; Philosophy; Circles; The Beginning; Everything There Is; Two Thirds Radial; Iskmix; Noka.

Personnel

Mario Pavone

bass

Mario Pavone: double bass; , Matt Mitchell: piano; Tyshawn Sorey: drums.

Album information

Title: Philosophy | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Clean Feed Records

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