1. Gaia
2. Shadows
3. This
4. And Now
5. Esprit De Muse
6. Moor
7. Noh Blues
8. Christa
9. Vignette
10. Gloria's Step
11. Requiem
Marc Copland - Piano
Gary Peacock - Bass
Joey Baron - Drums
Gary Peacock, who has just turned 80, is best known to jazz fans as the long-time bass player in Keith Jarrett's Standards trio - which, so it appears, has
now been disbanded. On this CD, Peacock takes much more of a leading role in a trio that, for the most part, is far removed from the conventional piano-led
trio. The opening track, Gaia, has an attractive, folksy appeal, but, the next few pieces, credited mainly to Peacock and occasionally to Copland
or Baron, are meditative exchanges of exploratory phrases between the three musicians that often feel incomplete. Titles such as This and And Now do not exactly give the listener any clue as to the musicians' intentions. It is something of a relief when a more conventionally
structured tune, Christa, is eventually played. This is a gentle, graceful ballad that made me wish that Peacock had not waited until track number
8 to move on from the earlier unstructured noodling.
Vignette
has a simple melodic line, delicately explored by Copland, and a springy rhythm. Gloria's Step, written for the Bill Evans trio by the
prodigiously talented Scott LaFaro, has Peacock leading with his sonorous tones a beautifully integrated performance that is four minutes of sheer
pleasure. I longed for more of the same and a lot less of the tiresome conversational exchanges.
George Stacy
CD Reviews
ECM 471 5388
