Julieta Eugenio: Jump
Greenleaf Music

A stellar debut collection from tenor saxophonist Julieta Eugenio, who grew up in the small Argentine port city of Necochea, started on the instrument at ten, and eight years later moved to Buenos Aires to study until late 2012. Another major ‘jump' came the following year when she relocated to New York for a Master's degree at Queens College's Aaron Copland School of Music and began immersing herself in the city's club scene, much as she'd done in Buenos Aires.

There's a secondary meaning to the album title that's more pertinent to the project. A phone call from acoustic bassist Matt Dwonszyk inviting her to Connecticut to play with him and fellow resident drummer Jonathan Barber proved too enticing to resist, especially when New York was mired in a pandemic-smothering funk. Who wouldn't find the prospect of fresh air and fewer bodies alluring? The change of scenery also perhaps benefited the album in allowing the music to come into clearer focus without big city distractions clouding the issue. Still, while the trio might have worked through the material in Connecticut, Jump ended up being recorded in March 2021 at a Brooklyn studio; further to that, much of its content is rooted in experiences Eugenio has had during her time in NYC.

Many years of playing have enabled her to develop an assured presence on the horn. Though she's well-schooled in jazz history and its players, it's her sound that comes through in the hour-long album. It's not one-dimensional either: she can play with aggressive volubility, but she's as adept at purring warmly on a ballad. A relaxed feel informs the ten performances, but relaxed here means confident, not listless or uninspired. Eugenio wisely lets the music unfold patiently and grants it space to blossom and breathe.

Her writing is solid too, though there's no denying the non-originals, the transporting “Flamingo” and enduring “Crazy He Calls Me,” stand out. The lead-off track, “Efes,” seduces the ear with a teasing theme but most of all strong interplay. The material strikes a deft balance between loose and tight as the three follow the guidelines set forth by the leader's writing whilst also imparting flexibility and spontaneity. Each player's a constant source of invention and eases into the communal playing with authority. In this case, Dwonszyk and Barber drive the tune with a restless fluidity while the leader glides confidently over top. Sultrier by comparison is the silky title track, which sees Eugenio waxing wistfully against an ever-mutating backdrop by her partners. The title of “La Jungla” alludes to the intensity of New York life and is particularly conveyed by darting, serpentine lines the saxophonist and bassist weave into the performance. On a related note is the slinky “Raccoon Tune,” which playfully riffs on the experience Eugenio had of the animal materializing outside her window in Queens and itching to get inside. Elsewhere, the roaring post-bop of “Snowbirds” captures the three at high velocity.

In “For You,” the trio moves into ballad mode, with the leader subtly sweetening her warm flourishes with vibrato and Barber on brushes. While Eugenio's no throwback, it's possible to hear echoes, however faint, of Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges in her ballad playing. Popularized by Duke Ellington, “Flamingo” (Grouya-Aderson) is elevated by her smoothly acrobatic tenor and a breezy, Latin-tinged swing by her bandmates. Barber sits out for “Crazy He Calls Me,” the 1949 Sigman-Russell standard famously sung by Billie Holiday and treated to a captivating and soulful reading by the tenor and bassist. If ballads are the most exposing of a musician's artistry, the form flatters both, who shine regally.

In striking a democratic balance of expression, the trio's adventurous attack calls to mind Henry Threadgill's Air with Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall (Pheeroan Aklaff too) at its most elastic. Time and again the performances indicate how smart Eugenio was to partner with such inspiring players. Dwonszyk and Barber distinguish themselves throughout, and the leader's polished voicings are all the more effective when powered so expertly (see the combustible heat they generate during “Raccoon Tune” and “Snowbirds,” to cite two examples). Certainly any trio that invites comparison to Air is one meriting attention.

March 2022