Chant is a relaxed yet inspired trio date featuring pianist
Frank Kimbrough with two of his closest associates from the Jazz Composers Collective: bassist
Ben Allison and drummer
Jeff Ballard. Along with brief, delightfully understated readings of
Ornette Coleman's "Feet Music" and
Jimmy Giuffre's "Phoenix," the trio wades through three collaborative improvisations. "Chant," a loosely structured piece, begins with a riff that vaguely recalls
McCoy Tyner's "Effendi"; "Broadside" is propelled by a funky, unchanging swing motif that sets up clearly demarcated solos by
Kimbrough and
Allison; and "Motility" brings the trio to a rolling boil, with
Kimbrough soloing over a swinging medium tempo, framed by bass and drum solos at the start and finish, respectively. Rounding out the program are three
Kimbrough originals: the touching waltz "Clara's Room," the free jazz ditty "Quickening," and the dark, turbulent "Ancestors," which features rubato piano ruminations over a frantic swing tempo. Despite moments of fairly high abstraction,
Chant is consistently accessible, and it represents
Kimbrough's approach to composition and improvisation particularly well. ~ David R. Adler