Aesthetic discretion powers this music.

Clay Jenkins plays with a clinically honed sense of technique but Stop-Start is a holistic accomplishment. Jenkins, bassist Jeff Campbell and drummer Rich Thompson equally contribute to Trio East's collective effort.

"Tray-Bo," the first of three original compositions, bursts out of the gate into a running improvisation that sizzles. One immediately notices the clean, non-affected mix. There is no need for gadgetry when the musicians know how to maximize the potentials fo their instruments. Clay Jenkins skillfully lets the phrases breathe, then pauses to draw us in to the next set of artistic choices. If this trio was not so proficient, Rich Thompson's drum "part" could itself be holistically analyzed as a solo improvisation. Beautiful.

In Coltrane's "Up Against The Wall," Thompson mixes his rhythm structures to complement Jenkin's more resonant, reflective improvisation. The notes come from a a comfort zone that is fed by a lovely blend of scaling and repetition. Jenkins and Thompson work in dual accent.

The title track, "Stop-Start," celebrates the best of bop jazz. Here, Jenkins needs no special effect to spatially communicate. The phrases stop and start in a succession that works as the extensions of a great conversation: enticing and unknowingly arresting. Thompson's rolls around the drum set create a cascade of sonic textures.

Bass chords, drum improvisation and trumpet flavour Dizzy Gillespies's "Con Alma" with anticipation. The integrity of the trumpet melody returns us to exhilarating memories of how the song's original master would have explored this idea.

"In Fine Line" features a wonderful sense of timing by all three players. Clay Jenkins spends much of theis song running all over the scale of trumpet spontaneity. Rich Thompson's drums run along the edge of combustion. Trio East plays with several trios worth of musical business.

The prominence of underlying techniqu stops "Late Bloomer" short of a purely avant-garde signature, but it is pretty free-form stuff. Rich Thompson's extended use of drums ingratiates us to a world of drum sounds. Jenkins' trumpet stretches in contrasted pronunciation to the many rhythms embedded by his trap man.

John Coltrate's "26-2" bops hard on the downbeats and backbeats. "Soul Eyes" is beautifully played. Jenkins introverts Mal Waldron's melody to a state of internal question. In this subservient rhythmic mood, one wishes Clay Jenkins had pushed the edges of aural alienation even further. The listener is beautifully seduced into thoughtful immersion.

Rich Thomson drives Trio East to the recorded conclusion of this chonicle as any veteran jazz player concludes a set. Clay Jenkins showed guts to so unleash Thompson at the end of a record that largely features trumpet. Selflessness makes this album great for intelligent fans of well-played bop.

— Gregory J. Robb
© Jazz Improv, Summer 2004