JC Sanford: Imminent Standards Trio Vol. 2
Shifting Paradigm Records

JC Sanford is refreshingly upfront about the relaxed approach he, bassist Charlie Lincoln, and drummer Abinnet Berhanu adopted for the trombonist's second standards release: on the inner sleeve, he states that they did little preparation for the recording and “mostly just figured out a handful of tunes we might record and otherwise didn't put much thought into any fancy arrangements or anything”—about as honest an admission as they come. Don't conclude from that, however, that the album's without rewards, as there are. But they come when expectations are aligned to intention, the latter clarified by Sanford's additional comment that the studio recording generally represents what a live gig at Imminent Brewing might have sounded like, had the pandemic not temporarily stopped regular gigs at his Minnesota “home base” from happening.

Imminent Standards Trio Vol. 2 is naturally similar to its 2021 predecessor but with a difference. Whereas the inaugural set paired Sanford with veteran players, the follow-up, laid down over two days in April 2022, features young musicians with whom he'd developed a rapport during lockdown (a photo of the trio on the release package even suggests Lincoln could pass for his son). Some of the eight tunes are longtime favourites of Sanford's, while others are recent additions to his playlist. Joining the oft-covered “Lonely Woman” and “Willow Weep For Me” are Monk's “Ugly Beauty” and Stevie Wonder's “Isn't She Lovely,” the latter dedicated to Sanford's daughter. Throughout the disc, the trio's playing is spontaneous and loose, though not sloppy.

The set opens with an inspired choice, Dexter Gordon's “Fried Bananas,” itself a contrafact on the standard “It Could Happen to You.” Sanford and Berhanu introduce the tune, the leader's full-throated, muscular tone receiving a solid kick from the drummer's inventive swing. With a walking Lincoln added in, the drive intensifies and the connection between the three declares itself. The trombonist's voice is the primary one, naturally, but in featuring solos by the bassist and drummer early on the album serves notice that it won't be a showcase for the leader only. The good times continue with a warm, Brazilian-inflected reading of Lee Morgan's “Ceora,” Sanford floating serenely over his partners' breezy base, and a languid rendering of “Ugly Beauty” that shows how amenable Monk's material to this trio format.

Sanford imaginatively recasts Ornette Coleman's “Lonely Woman” by backing Lincoln's initial voicing of the theme with a multiphonics drone and then collectively stretching the classic into abstract shape before putting it back together, this time the leader delivering the mournful theme. The Harmolodic titan gets a second nod in the form of a grooving twelve-bar blues treatment of “Turnaround,” the first blues, apparently, Sanford's ever recorded as player or leader.

September 2022