Lynne Arriale: Being Human
Challenge Records

Being Human might just be the most satisfying piano trio album yet from Lynne Arriale, despite the fact that the ones preceding it set a dauntingly high bar for it to meet. There are many reasons why the pianist's seventeenth album as a leader leaves such an indelible mark. With eleven tracks weighing in at a svelte forty-one minutes, every moment counts, and the bloat that drags overlong releases down is nowhere to be found. Each tune makes its case with dispatch, and solos are delivered with a crisp concision other jazz players would be wise to emulate. The conversational interactions between Arriale, bassist Alon Near, and drummer Lukasz Zyta sparkle, and one leaves this exquisite set uplifted and refreshed. Stylistically, the material cuts a broad swath, with pieces moving from gospel, balladry, and calypso to statements sprinkled with folk and classical elements.

Bolstering the project's impact is a suite design that makes all ten compositions—one re-appears as a brief reprise at album's end—feel connected; they're separately dedicated to individuals who've inspired Arriale with demonstrations of courage, determination, sacrifice, resilience, and joy. Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai are three so honoured, but so too are people of faith, the Ukrainian people, and humanity in general.

The soulful lyricism for which Arriale's renowned comes through vividly in the Thunberg homage “Passion,” with resonant piano chords breezily gliding across a responsive backdrop provided by her colleagues. Smooth polyrhythmic interplay between the three informs the music at every moment, so much so that the usual separations between soloist and accompanist blur if not vanish altogether. Zyta animates “Courage,” dedicated to the Ukrainian people, with an infectious 6/8 groove that the leader rides with characteristic ease. Compositional structures audibly guide the performance, yet the trio's playing is always marked by spontaneity.

One could be forgiven for thinking of Bill Evans during Arriale's graceful, chorale-like playing during “Love,” a heartfelt expression the pianist delivers with customary sensitivity. Irresistible too but in a different way is “Faith” for its uplifting soul-gospel feel and endearing folk-like melody. Speaking of which, the Gorman-inspired “Soul” presents the trio relaxing into deep triplet-based swing for four bluesy minutes. Also on the sensitive tip is the tender ballad “Gratitude,” where Alon solos memorably alongside the shimmering brushes and cymbals of Lukasz and the lyrical chord voicings of Arriale. Not every tune's laid-back, as illustrated by the soaring calypso swing of “Joy” and the tenacity with which the trio tears into the fiery, Yousafzai-dedicated “Persistence.” Pursuing a rather Monk-ish line is the adventurous “Curiosity,” during which the trio calls to mind Geri Allen, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian's playing on their 1989 release In the Year of the Dragon. For the album-closing reprise of “Love,” Arriale sets the piano aside for the Yamaha Clavinova, which allows her to simulate an a cappella choir for this touching recasting of the song.

Being Human is Arriale's Dickinson-like message to the world, one designed to encourage us to embrace optimism and hope over despair and resignation. In her view, there is division in this world, but surrendering to it is not the only option. How telling it is that she partners on this date with players from Israeli and Poland, the trio's telepathic connection showing how easily borders can dissolve when the spirit moves.

March 2024