Were I to compose (no, I mean improvise) a list of descriptors for free jazz I would want to include anarchic, avant garde, bright, colourful, creative, dramatic, dynamic, eclectic, energetic, evocative, experimental, expressive, free, interesting, inventive, non-conformist, original, playful, provocative, remarkable, spontaneous, subtle, vivacious and weird, for starters.

The music by the HBH Trio is full of all of that and in varying combinations, too.  Their resonances, their paradigms, their choices, their playing graces breathe avant-garde jazz; their panache is redolent of all kinds of modes of ‘modern’ jazz since be-bop: post-bop, hard-bop, new-bop, and all kinds of avant and improv since.

Julian Priester’s trombone also adds an extraordinary and fascinating playing style.  It seems to alter the dynamic forces integral to the trio and contributes rhythmic bass lines which may suddenly transmute to lively, shining, flamboyant, energetic and expressive solo parts.

Impulsive, improvised solos from all four musicians are welcomed and there are no divas seeking the limelight, each musician being fully empathetic with the coming ideas of his colleagues.  This awareness is echoed in their collective improvisation, enlarging and enhancing the consequence of a truly avant-garde jazz performance.

Reviewed by Ken Cheetham   http://www.jazzviews.net/hbh-trio--julian-priester-lrmndash-signals-from-the-mind.html

Under the track and personnel listing for this CD, a line reads "All material spontaneously composed". Consequently the potential purchaser is forewarned as to the nature of the music and non-sympathisers can avoid accordingly.

The improve trio HBH are joined by veteran horn man Priester who is no stranger to such areas of music – almost certainly the only musician in history to have performed with Muddy Waters, Sun Ra and Duke Ellington. His presence certainly adds a major voice to the committed threesome and although totally contemporaneous in his contribution, he never resorts to uncomfortable extraneous noises. Pianist Haney occasionally hints at elements of conventionality which are very quickly dispensed with and Bajda’s acoustic guitar strays briefly into Spanish territory, not exactly a compatible option in heads-down environment. The other nod towards the norm is in the pulse/tempo set down by Hernaez on Signal 3, although ironically this piece stagnates through much of its length.

Many of us exposed to such sounds over a long period of time, have come to believe that musical journeys such as this one are often best consumed in a ‘live’ situation and HBH, with or without guests would be an interesting proposition at an appropriate festival.

Peter Gamble JJ July 2018

 

 

Il pianista di origine canadese David Haney ritorna con una nuova incisione su Slam con il trio insieme agli argentini Jorge Hernaez al contrabbasso e David Bajda alla chitarra acustica, suoi collaboratori fin dal 2002 ed un ospite di eccezione, il trombonista americano Julian Priester, un veterano che è stato presente su incisioni storiche, fra i tanti con Max Roach e John Coltrane. Si tratta di una session divisa in sei parti, segnali, come indicano i musicisti nei titoli, "composta spontaneamente", alla ricerca di nuove situazioni sonore. Dal colloquio spuntano momenti molto eterodossi, tranquilli, grazie anche al trombone di Priester, che porta nuovi impulsi alle dinamiche insite nel trio di Haney. Nessuno cerca il ruolo di primadonna e tutto si svolge all’insegna della parità di ruoli, ad un accenno dell’uno risponde un altro, ma sempre in modo pacato, lasciando molto spazio agli spazi intrapresi, imprevedibili per l’ascoltatore. Signal 2 è introdotto dal pianoforte, lentamente si aggiunge la ritmica, sembra un’esecuzione in trio, fino a che arriva il trombone a portare il brano verso nuove direzioni. È un’avanguardia insolita, quella di questo quartetto, lenta, che sembra sorgere da un laboratorio di alchimia con esperimenti dai risultati imprevedibili. Il lungo Signal 3, sono quasi undici minuti, mostra atmosfere più concitate ed un intervento memorabile del trombonista di Chicago, i quattro mostrano che hanno praticato il jazz e che sanno come gestire un’improvvisazione in cui il contrabbasso dà degli accenti swinganti in sottofondo. È uno dei momenti migliori del disco, su cui, anche se si conoscono le atmosfere e e gli sviluppi dell’improvvisazione, si ritorna volentieri. Una proposta insolita, ma che si ascolta volentieri perchè la sorpresa è sempre dietro l’angolo. Vittorio Lo Conte  http://www.musiczoom.it/?p=29056#.Wr5CL3rwbct

Google translate: The Canadian pianist David Haney returns with a new recording on Slam with the trio together with the Argentinean Jorge Hernaez on double bass and David Bajda on acoustic guitar, his collaborators since 2002 and an exceptional guest, the American trombonist Julian Priester, a veteran which was present on historical recordings, among many with Max Roach and John Coltrane. It is a session divided into six parts, signals, as the musicians indicate in the titles, "spontaneously composed", in search of new sound situations. From the interview, very heterodox, calm moments emerge, thanks also to Priester's trombone, which brings new impulses to the dynamics inherent in the Haney trio. Nobody looks for the role of primadonna and everything takes place under the banner of equal roles, a hint of one responds another, but always quietly, leaving much space to the spaces undertaken, unpredictable for the listener. Signal 2 is introduced by the piano, slowly the rhythm is added, it seems like a performance in a trio, until the trombone arrives to take the song to new directions. It is an unusual avant-garde, that of this slow quartet, which seems to arise from an alchemy laboratory with experiments of unpredictable results. The long Signal 3, almost eleven minutes, shows more excited atmospheres and a memorable intervention of the trombonist of Chicago, the four show that they have practiced jazz and know how to manage an improvisation in which the double bass gives the swinging accents in the background. It is one of the best moments of the album, on which, even if you know the atmospheres and the developments of improvisation, you will come back willingly. An unusual proposal, but one that listens willingly because the surprise is always around the corner.