Two From Giant Step Arts: The Phoenix Trio & Dave Adewumi

        The Phoenix Trio is tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Marcus Gilmore. The cooperative unit’s first release is Tomorrow Is Today, a live set featuring compositions by each of the band members. Turner, who has the highest profile of the three, contributes one piece, the alluring 1946. Gilmore also has one tune in the program, the chipper and bouncy Harvest. The other four tunes are by the expressive bassist Martin, whose pieces are designed to provoke the spirited interplay that this band displays at every turn. Turner and Martin go as far back as the mid-Nineties, and Gilmore has recorded frequently with Martin since 2008. So the comfort level is high among these three improvisers, and so is the palpable rapport they exhibit in front of the audience at Ornithology, a club in Brooklyn. Giant Step Arts, a non-profit that, in their words, is “a one-of-a-kind collaboration between forward thinking musicians and Jimmy Katz” has been recording its artists in live settings. That’s the best way to showcase a group’s energy and dynamics, and Katz and James Kogan do a superb job, with a suitably live and spatial feel to the end product. Among the many highlights of this performance are Turner’s intricately thoughtful solo on Martin’s The Fencer and his quiet accompaniment to Martin’s own solo, the poised alignment of the trio on Martin’s Lioness, the absorbing quarter-hour conversation of Martin’s title track, and the entrancing bass and drums duet towards the end of Safe. I expect we’ll be hearing much more from The Phoenix Trio in the future, and they’re off to a superb start with Tomorrow Is Today. Recommended. 

Giant Step Arts GSA 20; Mark Turner (ts) Joe Martin (b) Marcus Gilmore (d); Brooklyn, NY, March 23-24, 2025; The Fencer/ Lioness/ 1946/ Harvest/ Tomorrow is Today/ Safe; 65:42. www.giantsteparts.org

    Another Giant Step Arts artist, trumpeter Dave Adewumi makes his debut as a leader with The Flame Beneath The Silence. The main thing you need to know is that this cat can play. At different moments on this club date, he evokes such trumpet masters as Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, and Wadada Leo Smith, among others. He also composes, and all the pieces here are originals. He can be quiet as on Infinite Loop or the brief Pensive, be intricate and edgy on The Vine, or be boldly assertive (with a Freddie Hubbard flair) on the album’s longest track, If I Need to Do This Again I’m Going to Throw a Fit. While it’s not all that common for a trumpeter to be the only horn in his first outing as a leader, Adewumi’s command of the horn and his self-assurance make The Flame Beneath The Silence a debut to be savored. It certainly helps that he’s assembled a superb band with Joel Ross on vibes, Linda May Han Oh on bass, and Marcus Gilmore on drums. Worthy of note are Oh’s delicate solo on If I Need to Do This Again I’m Going to Throw a Fit and Gilmore’s dynamic drumming and Ross’ bluesy solo on The Light You Left Behind, but the concentrated energy of their accompaniment is evident in every bar. Dave Adewumi is the most exciting new trumpeter I’ve run across in a while, and The Flame Beneath The Silence is a strong contender for debut release of the year. Warmly recommended. 

Giant Step Arts GSA 19; Dave Adewumi (tpt) Joel Ross (vib) Linda May Han Oh (b) Marcus Gilmore (d); Brooklyn, NY, July 6-7, 2024; The Flame Beneath the Silence/ Is/ Abandon/ Breach the Gap/ Infinite Loop/ Pensive/ The Vine/ Out Cry/ If I Need to Do This Again I’m Going to Throw a Fit/ The Light That You Left Behind; 46:42. www.giantsteparts.org