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Upper Left Trio

It would be too easy to pigeonhole the Upper Left Trio as a Bad Plus wannabe. Doing so would certainly be inaccurate, as the Upper Left Trio exists at approximately the midpoint between the Oscar Peterson Trio and Medeski, Martin, and Wood. The band’s debut recording, Cycling, consists of ten well-crafted original piano trio compositions that fall conservatively well short of the Bad Plus, producing a record that will not boast the band being the loudest jazz piano trio. The Upper Left Trio can boast being one of the more articulate and thoughtful new trios to emerge in the mainstream in the 21st century.

Fully integrated, the trio acts a unit as opposed to a collection of three individuals. Clay Giberson displays a piano gift that crosses Horace Tapscot with Tommy Flanagan. His playing with the rhythm section of drummer Charlie Doggett and bassist Jeff Leonard displays the true nature of solution in music. Each musician is fully dissolved in the other. This is best illustrated on the opener, “Fine Line,” where Giberson presents a standard introduction before melting with the other band members. “The Start and the End” is the best ballad on the recording, with Doggett’s perfectly accenting drumming spurring the elasticity of Leonard’s bass beneath Giberson’s melodic concept. The breezy gospel tune “Up and Away” weaves in and out of the blues and avant garde. “Cycling” begins with some elastic virtuosity from Leonard, who sets up a bit of a space mood for the piece that ends up being reflective and outspoken.

This disc will appeal to all mainstream listeners who find MM&W too far out there and the Bad Plus too frenetic and loud, while at the same time being a bit bored with the older artists. If this describes you as a listener, pick up a copy of Cycling.

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60
Album Review

Upper Left Trio: Ulternative

Read "Ulternative" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Portland, Oregon's Upper Left Trio has been together nearly a decade. The group began its recording journey on Origin Records in 2003 with Cycling. Ulternative is the trio's fourth recording for the label, and continues to push its music forward.The piano trio has, since pianist Bill Evans' late 1950s/early 1960s recordings with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, ridden the three-way interaction approach rather than the earlier mode of operation, with pianist supported by the band mates' ...

183
Album Review

Upper Left Trio: Three

Read "Three" reviewed by John Barron


Occasionally, in the midst of media-hyped young lions re-creating and staking claim to past innovations, a jazz recording will emerge that nurtures the essence of tradition with openness and candor. Such engaging qualities can be heard on Three, the third release from Portland, Oregon's Upper Left Trio, featuring pianist Clay Giberson, drummer Charlie Doggett and bassist Jeff Leonard.

Three is characterized by unabashed improvised intensity smoothed over with moments of serene lyricism. Giberson, a dynamic soloist, leads the way with ...

93
Album Review

Upper Left Trio: Sell Your Soul Side

Read "Sell Your Soul Side" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Comparisons fly all over the place when writers try to describe the sound of an emerging pianist and his trio. From the percussive side the newcomer might get paired with Bud Powell, to use a past master, or McCoy Tyner, if we're going with a current player. On the other side of the spectrum there seem to be a lot of “young Bill Evanses" out there, a bunch of guys who fall into the Brad Mehldau/Fred Hersch camp. But in ...

133
Album Review

Upper Left Trio: Cycling

Read "Cycling" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


It would be too easy to pigeonhole the Upper Left Trio as a Bad Plus wannabe. Doing so would certainly be inaccurate, as the Upper Left Trio exists at approximately the midpoint between the Oscar Peterson Trio and Medeski, Martin, and Wood. The band’s debut recording, Cycling, consists of 10 well-crafted original piano trio compositions that fall conservatively well short of the Bad Plus, producing a record that will not boast the band being the loudest jazz piano trio. The ...

144
Album Review

Upper Left Trio: Cycling

Read "Cycling" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


It's hard to put the finger on what makes for a successful piano trio set. Some of jazz's bona fide great keyboard players turn in less than inspired efforts, sets that just don't hold the listener's interest for the duration of an hour of music. It's probably the worst critism that can be made of a recording – that it just doesn't hold interest. And the piano trio format can be particularly unforgiving.And having said that, the other ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Ulternative

Origin Records
2012

buy

Three

Origin Records
2007

buy

Sell Your Soul Side

Origin Records
2006

buy

Cycling

Unknown label
2003

buy

Smells Like French

From: Ulternative
By Upper Left Trio

Linguistricks

From: Three
By Upper Left Trio

Heads or Tails?

From: Sell Your Soul Side
By Upper Left Trio

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