The Most Beautiful Sounds Next to Silence

Anyone who knows this trio's work from the ECM album Rosslyn, recorded in Norway a few months later, will know that here was a band worth hearing, and their Contemporary Music Network tour (during which this album was cut) gathered plenty of enthusiastic interest. The piano at the CBSO Centre at the time (as now) was a fine one, and John's unaccompanied opening segment of his own ‘Pure and Simple’ gives us, within less than a minute, a sense of the variations on touch, tone and speed that he was to draw from it during the evening.

His solo introduction subtly finds Johnson seamlessly joining him, as they combine on a phrase and then plunge into the heart of the piece. It is exemplary interactive trio work, with suitable openings for bass and drums as it progresses. And despite the spiky, almost fragmentary theme, it makes complete logical sense. The mystical atmosphere of ‘Between Moons’ is every bit as sensuous and poignant as the version on Rosslyn, and it was a staple of the trio's live dates, as was the title track (by Taylor's frequent collaborator Ralph Towner) which also appears on that other album.

Here Marc Johnson's extended ‘Tramonto’ opening section draws us ineluctably towards the piano's entry, and you can feel the atmosphere in the hall as the musicians draw the audience in. How great to have such a fine live recording to complement the studio version. And it wouldn’t be a Taylor concert without some ‘inside piano’ playing. He treats us to a vintage example on the closing track, ‘Ambleside’, with Johnson's arco bass in its upper register equally adding to the trio's range of tonality, before they take up their normal roles, with some of John's most nimble keyboard work on the entire album. A rediscovered jewel – thank you ECM.

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