Antoine Drye: Retreat To Beauty
Cellar Music

Retreat To Beauty is credited to Antoine Drye and strings, a detail's that not entirely accurate when the ensemble accompanying the NYC-based trumpeter also features woodwinds, horns, and a rhythm section. With twenty-plus musicians involved, the mini-orchestra more recalls one of those seminal Miles Davis-Gil Evans collaborations than a Charlie Parker-with-strings session. Clifford Brown with Strings is apparently one of the recordings Drye referenced when fashioning his own recording (common to both is a treatment of the Johnny Mercer classic “Laura”), though Brown's 1955 release augments jazz players with strings only. No matter: Retreat To Beauty, the third chapter in Drye's long-running Oblation series, is a terrific album regardless of how it's pitched and a profile-enhancing statement by the trumpeter.

Working with orchestrator Isaac Raz, Drye's dressed originals and covers in sumptuous arrangements and distinguished them further with his own exemplary playing. He's assisted splendidly in that regard by pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist Ben Wolfe, and drummer Donald Edwards and in the expanded ensemble: David Bertrand, Myron Walden, and John Ellis (woodwinds); Charlie Porter, Willie Applewhite, David Gibson, Patrick Milando, Alexandra Cook, and Becca Patterson (horns); and Christina Courtin, Trina Basu, Marika Hughes, and Jessica Troy (strings). Rounding out the cast are bassist Brandi Disterheft and vocalists Kim Kalesti and AC Lincoln. All are thoroughly dialed in to the lustrous sound Drye desired and the set-list recorded at NYC's Samurai Hotel Recording Studio on October 5th and 6th, 2021.

He's the primary soloist, of course, and rises to the occasion with poised playing that exudes confidence and control. His expressions are thoughtfully articulated and shaped, his tone warm, and his delivery smooth and soulful (look no further than “When It's Sleepy Time Down South”). Combine it with great song choices and arrangements and the result is a supremely satisfying release. Also heavily factoring into the project's appeal is the live feel of the performances, the impression created of a collective birthing music together in real time. That makes for visceral and exciting music.

A one-minute intro featuring three actors, “Dada takes Lilykenz to a show!,” is cute but something you might be inclined to skip after hearing once or twice. The album proper therefore begins with Jonathan Lefcoski's sultry “37,” one of two pieces by the late pianist to appear on the release. Following a nuanced ensemble introduction, the leader glides gracefully over the swinging base with his first solo, but as memorable is the seamless connection between Drye and accompanists and the breezy buoyancy of the performance. The leader contributes two fine compositions of his own, the wistful “Friend” sounding right at home amongst the classics (and sweetened by lovely solo contributions from clarinetist John Ellis and Fortner) and “Oblation” adding soulful swing to the proceedings. While the bonus track “Ringing in the Bells” is something of an outlier in being an original composition sung and written by Kalesti (with Lincoln on backing vocals), its lilting uplift and regal horns are no less pleasing to the ears for being so.

November 2023