Tani Tabbal: Now Then
Tao Forms

In a saxophone trio, the light naturally shines brightest on the woodwind, not only because of the instrument's forceful sonorities but also because it's typically the melody-carrier. Yet while alto saxophonist Adam Siegel very ably fulfills the requirements of the role, the group's called the Tani Tabbal Trio for a reason. The drummer's fluid, charismatic playing dazzles throughout Now Then, so much so that one's attention splits evenly between the two musicians, if not tips often in the leader's favour. The impression created is of someone not so much playing the drums but dancing around them and always in confident, perpetual motion. Bringing stability to the ever-evolving free-flow is bassist Michael Bisio, the critical final piece of the puzzle.

The bassist and drummer go way back. Tabbal, whose CV includes recording and touring stints with Roscoe Mitchell, Geri Allen, Cassandra Wilson, David Murray, Steve Coleman, Sun Ra, and Evan Parker, first played with Bisio on saxophonist Joe Giardullo's 2001 recording Shadow and Light. The telepathy they've developed is evident throughout Now Then, Tabbal's first recording for Tao Forms and third by the trio, and in keeping with that partnership, six of the ten tracks are by Tabbal, the others by Bisio. The drummer encountered Siegel, who plays comfortably within the traditional jazz idiom but excels as much when things get freer, six years ago on a gig and knew immediately he'd be a solid fit.

With only three players involved, the music feels spacious and thus conducive to bold interplay; there's structure, yes, but also high-level abstraction. Often a theme will be voiced early to give shape to the material before the three abandon it for unconstrained exploration. The connection between them is clear the moment “Arrested Confusion” opens the album with a ceaselessly mobile flow of expressions. Tabbal's an ever-replenishing fount of imagination, with Siegel and Bisio as inventive. True to its title, “Just Woke Up” awakens slowly, the wooziness of the playing suggesting the rough aftermath to a wild night. The improvisation gradually turns energized, however, as recovery sets in. In contrast to the looser execution of “Just Woke Up,” “Khusenaton” assumes immediate form when Bisio powers it with an ostinato pulse that his partners build on, while the set-ending “Inky Bud” proves as enticing in its buoyant playfulness.

Bisio pays memorable homage to Sun Ra (with whose Arkestra Tabbal played as a teenager) and Ornette Coleman with the ponderous “Sun History Ra Mystery” and the boppish “Oh See OC Revisited,” the latter evoking the glorious interplay of Ornette, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins. Interestingly, the album's relentless title track could pass as easily for a Coltrane tribute, given the ferocity of the trio's entangling lines and Siegel's searing runs. Not everything's so hot-to-the-touch. A piece such as “Midway Open” presents the three interacting quietly, with the playing lurching forward one step at a time. As restrained is “r. henri,” during which Siegel at one moment appears to reference “My One and Only Love.” There are moments where the trio's playing recalls the raw sound of a ‘60s free-jazz outfit, during “Scrunch,” for example, where Bisio's arco playing is drenched in Tabbal's hi-hat showers and Siegel's musings waft high above. Regardless of the period evoked or the stylistic terrain investigated, Now Then presents gripping, voluble interplay by musicians thoroughly attuned to Tabbal's vision.

November 2020