Marc van Roon Trio: Kinn
TRPTK

Some piano trio recordings feature a mix of originals and covers, something on the order of “It Never Entered My Mind” or “Stardust.” In these cases, memorable melodies serve as gateways to solos before the musicians re-voice the theme to tidily resolve the performance. None of that applies to Kinn when Marc van Roon (b. 1967) pursues a decidedly more abstract approach and avoids clichés at every step. In his trio, freedom is paramount and so too is deep listening between the participants, the Dutch pianist (here playing a Steinway grand) and his partners, double bassist Omer Govreen and drummer Tristan Renfrow. No structural safety nets exist when the three embrace improv at its most extreme. That makes for both unpredictable and exciting music and maximum listening engagement, even if no one will come way humming a melody.

The leader's chops are clearly well-developed. He's played piano since the age of ten, studied at the Koninklijk Conservatorium and in New York with Kenny Werner, Barry Harris, and Richie Beirach, and has appeared on over twenty albums, under his own name and with others. The Master's in Social Intervention he earned from Utrecht University and his position as an advisor to the Dutch Council for Culture have also no doubt fed into the probing analytical character of his musical thinking. His liner notes indicate a powerful political awareness informs his music-making. To that end, he cites not only the musicians as being integral to the project but also the production crew, the instruments and technical gear, and even, holistically, the “wood, the ground, the air, the materials and our bodies that have helped to bring the sounds to life.” It's in recognizing this sense of cooperation and in seeing ourselves as part of an interdependent whole that the political dimension of Kinn crystallizes.

In that text, he also acknowledges the influence of Miles Davis's electric period and the jazz-rock of Weather Report, as well as Western and Indian classical composition. All such elements find their way into van Roon's music and the trio improvs, with the inclusion of synthesizer (Prophet Rev2) a direct reference to that electric jazz era. Operating without pre-composed scores or strategies, he, Govreen, and Renfrow commit themselves fully to spontaneous expression and the opportunities that thereby offer themselves. Consistent with van Roon's desires, the trio leaves traditional rules of harmony and melody behind, opting instead for unpredictability and openness to the unexpected.

That's evident the second “Wild Aesthesis” initiates the fifty-three-minute set with a driving performance spiked by van Roon's piano and synthesizer and his partners' responsive playing. High-energy episodes gradually transition into contemplative passages and moments of near-stasis, the music ebbing and flowing as dictated by its creators. A subtle hint of bop flavour seeps into the opening section of “Biophonic Resonance” with perhaps a sideways glance in Weather Report's direction and even a seeming allusion to “So What.” Interspersed amongst the trio explorations are three brief “Noeta” variations, each an explorative spotlight featuring the pianist alone. The release fittingly concludes with “Making Kin,” a restrained, ballad-styled setting that could pass for a Paul Motian trio improv before morphing into a deep Bill Evans-styled self-examination.

November 2022