Vibraphonist Simon Moullier, pianist Dahveed Behroozi, and saxophonist Joel Frahm front trios distinguished by telepathic correspondence among the players and arresting musicality. Three flash reviews (150 words or so) recommend their recent recordings.

Simon Moullier
Countdown (Fresh Sound Records)
A review
The record company’s name, Fresh Sound, aptly describes the music of vibraphonist Simon Moullier, whose Countdown brings fresh takes to 10 jazz standards from John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, etc. The 26-year-old’s seriously playful arrangements are supported with a kinetic individualism by bassist Luca Alemanno and drummer Jongkuk Kim. In Moullier’s hands, the vibraphone discovers timbres and capabilities—bent notes, microtones, and a comping organ—it had never before contemplated. “I’ve always wanted to make the vibraphone disappear—to transcend the instrument—always with the flow of expression being the priority,” says Moullier. Flow he does, with nimble improvisations that seem to land in the right, if unexpected, places effortlessly. Check out the burning “Hot House” (Tadd Dameron) and the syncopation that Moullier adds to Monk’s on “Ask Me Now.” A bedewed, Brazilian “Nature Boy” dazzles, and an elegiac “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” runs deep. With Countdown, Moullier claims a forward position on the jazz roster.

Dahveed Behroozi
Echos (Sunnyside Records)
A review
On Echos, pianist/composer Dahveed Behroozi offers compelling excursions into nine abstract yet emotionally expressive originals, accompanied by the lyrical bassist Thomas Morgan (contributor of one of the compositions) and the inventive drummer Billy Mintz. Behroozi approaches his improvisations as if proving a theorem, solving a beautiful problem, and he can take you to the light-headed tipping point of abstraction before bringing you back to earth with a bluntly carnal note—as he does on the searching “Chimes.” Rumbling, rushing, shifting textures underlay “Sendoff,” which is balanced by the delicate and spacious “TBD,” featuring an extended conversation between piano and bass. “Royal Star” offers a modern and almost solemn beauty, while the darker “Gilroy” recalls the sonorities of early 20th-century French composers. Evoking emotional response as much through the quality of sound as through the compositional or improvisational architecture, Behroozi and colleagues deliver a rewarding musical experience.

Joel Frahm
The Bright Side (Anzic Records)
A review
Soprano and tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm’s latest release, The Bright Side, confirms the promise of its title, offering positive, often joyful explorations of 10 original compositions with bassist Dan Loomis and drummer Ernesto Cervini. The sax leads the way on every track, but Loomis and Cervini, who are given plenty of space to stretch out, are so well tuned to Frahm—the result of years playing together—that they are nearly transparent behind him. Frahm unspools long fluid lines that can be assertively sawtoothed, as on “Blow Poppa Joe,” an homage to Joe Henderson, or warm and sweet as on the mellow “Thinking of Benny,” a tribute to Benny Golson. Loomis contributes the Asia-inflected “Silk Road” and the playful “X Friends,” and Cervini the meditative “The Beautiful Mystery,” featuring splendid cymbal work. Frahm’s title track closes the album with an easygoing, bluesy celebration over a Cervini march that takes us on the road to somewhere better.

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© 2021 Mel Minter