For those unaware, veteran altoist Richard Tabnik, while most inspired by altoist Lee Konitz, pianist Connie Crothers, Ornette Coleman (in the upper register) and the music of Lennie Tristano, has had his own sound for quite a few years.

On the two-CD set Symphony For Jazz Trio, he teams up with bassist Adam Lane and drummer Roger Mancuso for a full studio session and a live set at The Stone in New York. There are two versions of his title piece which has three main movements plus three relatively brief interludes and a closing summation.

Each CD also contains a few originals that are creative improvisations over the chord changes of various swing-era standards. Lane and Mancuso get their share of solo space and are consistently creative in interacting with the altoist. Tabnik displays a conversational and explorative style on alto, one that (like Lee Konitz) is full of unexpected twists and turns.

CD 1: Studio Set
Improvised Tunes
1. Unfasten Your Mindbelt
2. Let’s Go!
3. Streaming
4. Toroid Affair
5. Luminosity

Symphony for Jazz Trio: A Prayer for Peace
6. Drum Call
7. The Call for Liberty and Justice for All
8. Homeless
9. What About the Homeless?
10. Prayer
11. A Prayer for Peace
12. Recapitulation: No Alternative to Peace & Justice

Recorded in February of 2017, Tabnik opens the first CD of his new recording on a set of Improvised Tunes which first gives us the sumptuous Unfasten Your Mindbelt and the adoring Let’s Go! and then we get the impassioned Streaming, the cultured A Toroid Affair, culminating on the affecting Luminosity.

Then we are gifted a set entitled Symphony for Jazz Trio: A Prayer for Peace which opens on the aptly-titled Drum Call, the dutifully crafted The Call for Liberty and Justice for All and a resilient Homeless, before they are in turn backed seamlessly by the impassioned What About the Homeless?, the all-embracing Prayer, the set rounding out on the tuneful A Prayer for Peace and the sonorous Recapitulation: No Alternative to Peace & Justice.

CD 2: Live at The Stone, NYC
Improvised Tunes
1. Smile My Baby
2. Linearity

Symphony for Jazz Trio: A Prayer for Peace
3. Drum Call
4. The Call for Liberty and Justice for All
5. Homeless
6. What About the Homeless?
7. Prayer
8. A Prayer for Peace / Recapitulation: No Alternative to Peace & Justice 9. Duly Noted The second CD - a live one recorded at The Stone, NYC - opens on two tracks within an Improvised set in the form of the melodious Smile My Baby and the driven Linearity; and then we get their complete live set of the aforementioned Symphony for Jazz Trio: A Prayer for Peace, itself now ending on a rhythmically alert Duly Noted.

Musicians:
Richard Tabnik, alto saxophone
Roger Mancuso, drums
Adam Lane, bass

Official Purchase Link

Richard Tabnik @ YouTube

Richard Tabnik @ Facebook