At the beginning of this century, Russ Lossing was already a fully-formed pianist and composer testing the limits of structured jazz with panache and leading a high-powered trio with Ed Schuller and Paul Motian. He quickly established himself as a pianist with his own lexicon, a thoughtfulness that rivals Keith Jarrett but also a master of using space and intervals for emotional depth.
Lossing’s style tends to bounce between avant-garde to modern jazz, often with some classical overtones (he was once mentored by John Cage). But it’s all served Lossing well, because even when he’s playing jazz in an orderly fashion, he never leaves behind his adventurous, unconfined spirit and that includes for this set of eight, urbane originals he released in January 2021 under the title Metamorphism.
Over time, Lossing’s compositional acumen – great from the start has evolved into something that has an arcane quality, demanding closer and repeated listens to decipher (which, to me, is much of the fun of jazz listening). For Metamorphism, a guy who usually leads trios had put together a seriously good quartet to execute these new compositions, and perhaps more importantly, these are all guys who go back a long ways with Lossing. Joining Lossing this time is John Hebert on bass, Loren Stillman on saxophone and Michael Sarin on drums.
“Three Treasures” is what happens when not just one or two musicians modulate with careful preciousness; they all do and it makes for interesting interactions where you clearly hear each participant in their own space. The motif is repeated throughout but evolves over the course of the song.
Wayne Shorter-like chord patterns grace “Sojourn” and Sarin’s light but loose drums hide a complex rhythmic pattern. Meanwhile, Stillman’s alto sax glides over the constant changes with assurance.
Lossing had previously dedicated both a solo piano album and a trio album to his late drummer Motian, and the song “Metamorphism” is dedicated to the drumming giant as well. The title track doesn’t really ride on a sharply-defined rhythm, it just floats along with a fragile, plaintive sense. Lossing’s delicate touch on piano goes down a deliberate path of searching, Herbert and Sarin selectively adding punctuation at strategic spots, Stillman coming in to bring a lyrical soprano sax that adds even more colors to Lossing’s tone poem.
“Mai” is measured in its cadence even as it’s unencumbered in its melodic flow; Hebert’s harmonic complement to Lossing’s concept is just one of many indications that Lossing composed and arranged for these guys in mind. Sarin sets out a sinewy drum pattern for “Pileatus” that a Lossing and Stillman unison artfully syncopates around.
“Blind Horizon” is dedicated to Andrew Hill, and like Hill’s work, this song has those esoteric chord progressions. Lossing really plumbs the depth of this emotionally complex strain during his aside.
For a while “Canto 24” is primarily built on a single chord but with a different time signature for each measure as Stillman and Lossing create on top of it and then after a reset, the band collectively gallops out of the gate and race toward free jazz.
Russ Lossing approaches each song on Metamorphism with cunning and a new strategy each time. However, it’s not just a preponderance of fresh ideas that makes this album work so well; they are ideas that fit right with the people chosen to carry them out.
Metamorphism is available now from Sunnyside Records.
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