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Craig Taborn / Nels Cline / Marcus Gilmore: Trio Of Bloom
ByCharlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955

Dizzy Gillespie
trumpet1917 - 1993

Bud Powell
piano1924 - 1966

Charles Mingus
bass, acoustic1922 - 1979
Even earlier,

Louis Armstrong
trumpet and vocals1901 - 1971
Norman Granz
b.1918
Johnny Hodges
saxophone, alto1907 - 1970
The newly formed Trio of Bloom bears a spiritual kinship to the similarly named Trio of Doom, a legendary but short-lived group from 1979 featuring

Tony Williams
drums1945 - 1997

John McLaughlin
guitarb.1942

Jaco Pastorius
bass, electric1951 - 1987
The Trio of Bloom, assembled by producer David Breskin, comprises

Nels Cline
guitar, electricb.1956

Craig Taborn
pianob.1970

Marcus Gilmore
drumsb.1986

Bill Frisell
guitar, electricb.1951

Ronald Shannon Jackson
drums1940 - 2013
For the Trio of Bloom, the inherent compromises of a supergroup likely fall most heavily on Taborn, a pianist of immense talent and unique vision. Taborn often speaks of "disappearing" into his music, of an almost subconscious wellspring of inspiration. This approach suggests a powerful way for listeners to engage with his work: to surrender to the "creative grooves, textures, rhythms, dynamics, motives and motifs" and fully appreciate the music's unique qualities. Interestingly, Taborn reportedly prefers the term "black improvisational tradition" over "jazz" and, much like

Jason Moran
pianob.1975
Producer Breskin encouraged each musician to contribute existing pieces they admired, alongside new compositions.
Nels Cline brought

Terje Rypdal
guitarb.1947
Taborn's choice "Nightwhistlers" is a variation of a track from Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society album Eye on You (About Time, 1980). Marcus Gilmore's powerful rhythm provides a bracing opening, with Cline playing strikingly across the beat. Marcus Gilmore contributed a track from

Wayne Shorter
saxophone1933 - 2023
One of the most unusual tracks is Cline's "Eye Shadow Eye," which provided Taborn with an opportunity to showcase his piano playing. On "Queen King," Cline offers a single-chord vampa rework of his composition "King Queen" created for the Nels Cline Singers. Taborn noodles on the keyboards before Cline's guitar savages the piece, eventually settling back into unison with Taborn.
The track "Bloomers" presents a particularly enigmatic soundscape. It evokes images of Geppetto's lair from Pinocchio with its chiming clocks and recalls the pioneering electronic sounds of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. This track stimulates the thought that true innovation today might lie not just in novel sonic combinations, but in the invention of entirely new musical ideas. Being beguiled by surface sonics can be a trap.
The discussion of keyboard choice brings to mind

Keith Jarrett
pianob.1945

Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991

Jack DeJohnette
drumsb.1942
Marcus Gilmore's "Breath" features Taborn's piano set against rich soundscapes from Cline. It is a cultured, impressionistic piece, almost reminiscent of what Debussy might have created with modern technology. Cline's remarkable restraint in this piece is particularly noteworthy.
In stark contrast to the often confrontational sound of the Trio of Doom, the Trio of Bloom is far less straightforward, perhaps more evasive, and certainly more nuanced in its approach. ">
Track Listing
Nightwhistlers; Unreal Light; Breath; Queen King; Diana; Bloomers; Eye Shadow Eye; Why Canada; Forge; Bend It; Gone Bust;
Personnel
Additional Instrumentation
Nels Cline: 6-string and 12-string guitars; lap steel guitar; bass #4, #10
Album information
Title: Trio Of Bloom | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: Pyroclastic Records
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