PAT BIANCHI — Three (review)

Album · 2024 · Hard Bop

4/5 · 2024-10-21
Carmel

Pat Bianchi's “Three” is an album pulsating with vitality and creative energy. For the aficionados tucked in dimly lit corners of jazz clubs and the eager students in classrooms, Bianchi offers a set of musical ingenuity in a jazz organ trio format.

At its core, “Three” is a sonic adventure that beckons the listener to dive headfirst into the rich vibrations of jazz. Bianchi crafts an invigorating soundscape alongside Troy Roberts on saxophone and Colin Stranahan on drums. This is not your grandfather's jazz album, nor an attempt to mimic the past. Instead, it explores the possibilities of jazz when unshackled from expectation and focused on today's energy.

The album's ability to marry the familiar with the liveliness of today is the key to its success. Take, for example, the rendition of "Love For Sale." It's a track that has been reimagined by countless artists, but this trio, it becomes something entirely new—a vibrant conversation between the past and the present, echoing each player's passion. It's as if Bianchi expresses to us a sonic truth, reminding us that jazz is not a static entity but a living, breathing organism that thrives on innovation.

“Three’s” trio setup, eschewing the traditional guitar for saxophone, opens up a vast expanse of harmonic possibilities, allowing the music to flow from a different perspective. Roberts' voice speaks from the heart and the myriad emotions that arise when the spark of spontaneity ignites with deep musical understanding. Stranahan's drums punctuate this feeling by keeping the time feel centered and elastic.

Each track is a collective voyage that leaves the most indelible mark. From the smoky, sultry lines of "When Sunny Gets Blue" to the haunting beauty of "Stardust," Bianchi and his compatriots navigate the vast expanse of jazz with a map of their own making. The album closes with a live recording of "Cheek To Cheek," recorded live at The Jazz Kitchen (Indianapolis, IN) on June 3, 2023, by Mike Halperin, that is exhilarating, capturing the raw, unfiltered essence of jazz—the spontaneous creation, the risk, the sheer thrill of performance.

As we immerse ourselves in the soul-stirring depths of “Three,” let us not only applaud the exceptional artistry of Bianchi, Roberts, and Stranahan but also the boundless spirit of exploration they represent. Woven into the album's fabric, this spirit assures us that jazz remains a vibrant, ever-evolving art form destined to captivate and inspire future generations. “Three” captures a singular moment in musical time—a moment that, when we give ourselves over to the act of deep listening, transcends time and space, inviting us into a world of inspiration and infinite possibility. In these moments of attentive listening, the album's true genius unfolds, revealing layers of beauty that affirm jazz's enduring legacy and its potential to astonish and enrich us, anytime, anywhere.