Tenor saxophonist
Pietro Tonolo, bassist
Henri Texier, and drummer
Aldo Romano perform a series of standards and original compositions on this sprightly and thoroughly engaging outing titled
Tresse. Here, this stalwart trio of veterans who have respectively performed with saxophonists
Phil Woods,
Steve Lacy, and trumpeter
Enrico Rava to cite only a few melds bop and swing with modern jazz style improvisation while occasionally skirting the fringes of the avant-garde.
Pietro Tonolo steers the band with his husky tenor sound and fluid lines in concert with
Texier's profoundly executed walking basslines and
Romano's sweeping undercurrents. The drummer launches a polyrhythmic assault on the piece titled "Gammon," whereas the musicians implement memorable grooves and tuneful melodies on "Laguna" and elsewhere. Throughout, the band excels at providing sonorous themes, coupled with bouncy rhythms and tightly woven arrangements amid loosely based swing motifs and spirited dialogue. The proceedings come to a stirring finale with the band's breezy and calming medium-tempo swing vamp of
Thelonious Monk's "Bye-Ya." On this piece, the rhythm section augments
Tonolo's affable harmonies with a slight bossa nova edge. Simply stated,
Tresse is an affable listening experience, enhanced by the musician's upbeat demeanor and sharp-witted interplay. ~ Glenn Astarita