JOHN TAYLOR “Tramonto”

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ARTIST

John Taylor

ALBUM TITLE

“Tramonto”

LABEL

ECM

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Ten years after the sudden passing of John Taylor, the release of this previously unheard concert offers a welcome opportunity to revisit a musician who, perhaps by temperament, remained somewhat removed from jazz’s larger spotlight. It also allows us to hear once again, in a live setting, a trio whose existence proved all too brief.

Marc Johnson and Joey Baron have played together on countless occasions, most notably alongside Enrico Pieranunzi in one of the most acclaimed piano trios of recent decades. Tramonto documents a stop on the tour they undertook with Taylor – a collaboration that, as far as I know, never extended beyond this single venture. The following April, the three musicians entered Rainbow Studio in Oslo to record Rosslyn, also for ECM, one of the highest achievements of Taylor’s career.

Tramonto can therefore be viewed as a preliminary stage in the development of that album – an early phase in which the musicians were, so to speak, taking each other’s measure. More importantly, Taylor, Johnson and Baron are engaged in a process of exploration, testing how far they can push the music while deciding how much of the indispensable Bill Evans legacy they wish to retain. Not only had Taylor always worked from that crucial point of reference, but he was now joined by the last bassist Evans employed during the final years of his career.

Although traces of the master’s influence can be heard throughout the performance, particularly in the introspective readings of “Between Moons” and “Tramonto”, the trio moves well beyond the model. Taylor, in particular, injects the rhythmic tension so characteristic of Evans – one need only think of “Nardis” – with a greater degree of aggression and asymmetry.

The opening piece, “Pure and Simple”, unfolds as a rugged, frenetic yet irresistibly vital and even exuberant odyssey, constantly shifting from one musical situation to another – almost like the changing levels of a video game. It confirms the remarkable imagination Taylor possessed as a composer. The same quality appears again, albeit to a lesser extent, in the closing piece, “Ambleside”.

“Tramonto”, by contrast, moves in the opposite direction. Taylor approaches Ralph Towner’s composition with an economy of means that remains closely aligned with the lyrical essence of the theme. “Between Moons”, later revisited alongside “Tramonto” on Rosslyn, is perhaps the album’s most overtly Evansian moment. Within the intense dialogue between Taylor and Johnson, Joey Baron inserts himself with authority, sensitivity and just a hint of audacious flair.

That leaves Steve Swallow’s “Up Too Late” – an exuberant rhythmic excursion propelled by swing and enriched by an abundance of block chords. Here we find the clearest evidence of the rapport the three musicians had already managed to establish.

Giuseppe Piacentino

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