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Andy Milne: The reMission

By Mike Jurkovic
April 9, 2020
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Ever hear a disc and wonder why the deep-seated beauty of some players' music escapes your radar? Juno Award-winning pianist and composer Andy Milne's The reMission, a challenging, tough, terse and ultimately triumphant recording, is one of those. One of those discs that, after several uninterrupted listens, has one digging into the discography scrambling to catch up.

A composer with an agile, far flung curiosity, Milne has held the bench for

Ravi Coltrane

saxophone, tenor
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Ravi Coltrane and

Ralph Alessi

trumpet
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Ralph Alessi. He's teamed with

Andrew Cyrille

drums
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Andrew Cyrille, Bruce Cockburn, William Shatner,

Dianne Reeves

vocals
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Dianne Reeves and

Tyshawn Sorey

drums
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Tyshawn Sorey. As a former student of

Oscar Peterson

piano
1925 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Oscar Peterson, Milne centered

Steve Coleman

saxophone, alto
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Steve Coleman's M Base for six years and has released over a dozen discs under his own name, including six with the quietly influential

Dapp Theory

" data-original-title="" title="">Dapp Theory and now the exquisite, first ever trio release, The reMission .

Deserving of a wide audience, The reMission opens misleadingly with an ebullient take on

McCoy Tyner

piano
1938 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">McCoy Tyner's animated "Passion Dance." The answer is the diagnosis of a life-threatening disease. The music quickly becomes a Gordian knot of tonalities (the haunted "Resolution," the hushed, insistent interplay of "Anything but Anything") and at others a smorgasbord of traditional ley lines ("Winter Palace.")

Moving classically in every aspect of the word while stimulating visions of all artists creating, evincing the concerns and humors of the present day, "Vertical On Opening Night" is the mysterious travel of the quiet soul and the truth of how it feels after your diagnosis. It's the dark suspension of time that follows, strobe lit by untethered light. And though Milne voices only three of the legion of voices that might resound in your head at such a time, himself, bassist

John Hébert

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">John H��bert and drummer

Clarence Penn

drums
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Clarence Penn each has something profound to say.

And say it they do, with cutting character and sonorous clarity on "Drive By -The Fall," the coiled, free falling "Dancing On the Savannah," and the dark, arcing movement of "The Call." With all the atonal intimacy and polyrhythmic history of piano trios past and present, think

Paul Bley

piano
1932 - 2016

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

Keith Jarrett

piano
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Jarrett,

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans, Milne, Hebert and Penn close out this grand statement with the fragile sturdy joy of "Sad to Say" and instantly posit The reMission as of one this year's finest recordings.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Passion Dance; Resolution; Winter Palace; Vertical On Opening Night; Drive By-The Fall; Anything but Anything; Dancing On the Savannah; The Call; Geewa; Sad to Say.

Personnel

Andy Milne

piano

John H��bert

bass

Clarence Penn

drums

Album information

Title: The reMission | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Sunnyside Records

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