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Russ Lossing's previous outing with a trio "All Things Arise" [hathut] was a fine example of a pianist who was willing to stretch out. While moving into the third-stream mentality, Lossing never lost touch with the melodic aspect in his playing. This time around, when he's matched with viola player Mat Maneri and bassist Mark Dresser, the adventurous side in his music resonates even more. Four of the longest pieces on the record are improvisations. Lossing says in the liner notes, "When I put this date together my general idea was to create an atmosphere of °no mind'. No past, no future. One of the elements to bring forth this feeling was to book a very short session; we were in the studio less than four hours including set up and break down. There was a real sense of urgency to the session." You can hear that sense of danger in just about everything the trio plays. Improvised trio numbers are the most adventurous. The longest of these, "Ch'ien" is a superb example of the trio's full-blown capabilities. Lossing leads the way with scattered clusters on the keys, while Dresser provides intensely warm plucking that gels with Maneri's metallic viola playing. As the piece continues, it passes through a number of ebbs and flows. Melody is replaced with dissonance, which then turns on itself and becomes a quiet melodic passage once again. Much of this music is highly reflective. On the title track, Lossing plays with what he calls °open piano'. He's basically hunkering down on the sustain pedal, while he's plucking away on the strings. The metallic sound once again comes through as Maneri takes the leader to task in a head-to-head duo. Album also features a number of duets between the members of trio. "Hidden Lines" sees Lossing duel out with Dresser's rich, warm arco bass lines, while "Dry(ist)" sees Lossing's loosely structured piano chords go at it with Maneri's finely angular viola structures. "Metal Rat" is full of what's most important to a successful trio record ° open communication in bounds.

Russ Lossing

Jazz Pianist - Composer