Personnel:
Jorge Rossy (vib, d), Nat Su (as, d), Dominique Girod (b)
Reference: FSRCD 5104
Bar code: 8427328651042
"Rossy’s impressive CV includes work with Paquito D’Rivera, Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner and Kenny Wheeler. Born in Barcelona in 1964, at times domiciled in Boston and New York but back in his home city since 2000, Rossy has long been known as both a drummer and pianist of quality and distinction. Fellow JJ critic Nigel Jarrett recently assessed his remarkable multi-instrumentalism in his review of Rossy’s recent Vibes Quintet release Beyond Sunday with, a.o., Mark Turner (ts) and Al Foster (d).
The operative idea of the present 3 Trios is that Rossy plays, from piece to piece, either vibes or drums, with the former choice seeing altoist Su shift to the tubs.
One track, a liquid eight-minute treatment of Clare Fisher’s lovely Pensativa, eschews drums to feature vibes, sax and bass and I wish there had been more of this particular trio in the mix. While Rossy’s drumming is crisply variegated and diversely cross-rhythmic (hear him cook on The Song Is You or I Concentrate On You) when Su sets his alto aside, he offers a far more stripped down or functional rhythmic foundation (sample That Old Feeling). This contrast tends – for me, at least – to diminish the appeal of the album as a whole. Which is a shame, as there is otherwise plenty to enjoy in music lit up, at its best, by a smile-inducing mix of airy yet purposeful swing, flowing melody and harmonic juice.
As an altoist, Su has much to offer: hear him burn on the aforementioned Song and float out on Every Time We Say Goodbye, following the telling introductory pizzicato figures from Girod – a fine bassist whose rounded sound and snapping bounce can bring Paul Chambers to mind.
As for Rossy: while he’s no Milt Jackson, Bobby Hutcherson or Walt Dickerson, he impresses as much on the vibes as he does on the drums, his astutely weighted command of melody, rhythm and harmonic texture a delight throughout."
Michael Tucker (May 15, 2019)
https://jazzjournal.co.uk
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"Voilà trois trios en un (d’où le nom du groupe), Jorge Rossy et Nat Su étant multi-instrumentistes. Si depuis longtemps on admire le premier qu’on a connu batteur auprès des plus grands de notre époque jà commencer par Brad Mehldau et Wayne Shorter), on sait qu’il a fait récemment plusieurs disques au vibraphone, instrument dont il joue de plus en plus. Quant à Nat Su, de nationalité suisse mais camerounais d’origine par son père, c’est un saxophoniste alto disciple de Lee Konitz et de Dave Liebman dont il suivit l’enseignement. Mais il est aussi batteur. Le troisième homme est le contrebassiste Dominique Girod (suisse lui aussi et ancien élève de Jean-François Jenny-Clark) autour de qui vont s’organiser les différentes combinaisons orchestrales. Jorge Rossy allant régulièrement en Suisse pour y enseigner, la complicité de ces trois musiciens n’est pas récente et elle se devine à l’écoute d’un disque qui ne peut se résumer à du jazz straight ahead.
Sur un répertoire assumé de standards bien choisis, la qualité de la musique est toujours superlative, quelles que soient les formes (sax-bass-drums, vibes-bass-drums, sax-vibes-bass). Au régal de l’écoute s’ajoutera pour beaucoup le plaisir d’entendre un saxophoniste que l’on connaît peu."
Philippe Vincent (Mai, 2019)
Jazz Magazine
