feature photo: Madeleine Ventrice-Knuffke
Kirk Knuffke has been very impactful as a cornetist and composer since arriving in New York in 2005. A member of Ideal Bread, Matt Wilson’s quartet and Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Knuffke has also made a nice string of records as a leader since 2008’s Big Wig and although he changes collaborators on his own dates regularly, he’s cut a number of trio records. Well, now he’s made another trio album Gravity Without Airs and one that should get a lot of attention because it’s a trio of three of the finest improvisors in jazz today.
It’s not a given, but invariably where there’s a Michael Bisio album, Knuffke shows up on it as a vital contributor, and the two even have a creative trio going with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm. But Bisio has had an even longer association with pianist Matthew Shipp and in a unique position to see the value of Kirk Knuffke leading a group that includes all three.
So with Bisio’s urging perhaps it was inevitable that we were going to see an album like the double-disc Gravity Without Airs by the Kirk Knuffke Trio, which finally brings together Knuffke, Bisio and Shipp, three musicians operating in similar circles for a number of years.
It’s an unusual setup without the drums but Knuffke and Bisio have done fine without that in their collaborations with Lonberg-Holm and Shipp is a master at adapting without percussion, especially since he is such a rhythmically-minded pianist. This new dynamic to the Knuffke-Bisio relationship both supplements it and changes it. It supplements it in that Bisio’s note choices – already stellar – is further enhanced by knowing intimately where the pianist and cornet player are going. But it also changes things in that Shipp not only introduces chords into the mix but also his peerless manipulation of them.
The double CD commences with the title track (its lengthiest performance), and it’s immediately apparent what you gain with the drums taken out of the equation. Bisio’s spidery walk comes in sharper focus, he operates as if that drummer is present. Shipp fills in the harmonic spaces left behind by Bisio in sketching out Knuffke’s pretty melody. For his part, Knuffke’s cornet displays all the humanness heard from his mentor, the late Ron Miles. Any concerns about gelling are quickly dispelled when on Knuffke’s subtle cue, the three take up the tempo and intensity in perfect unity, and they even swing well together.
Knuffke’s lovely ballad “Between Today and May” gets ace accompaniment, with Bisio starting on arco and then plucked bass to complete the harmonic picture. When Knuffke is chasing notes on “The Sun Is Always Shining,” you can hear Shipp and Bisio right in lockstep with him. Everywhere the mood of the cornet alters, the other two senses it immediately and modulates accordingly.
It feels like the full potency of Knuffke’s choice accompanists are brought to bear for “The Water Will Win,” the cornetist inspired by his strong backing. Knuffke and Shipp go on parallel streams for the frisky “Blinds” with Bisio building bridges between the two, before Knuffke fearlessly tests the upper limits of his horn.
Since Knuffke is the sole composer for six of the compositions and the remaining eight are credited to all three, my guess is that the leader came to the sessions intending to record a single-disc album but the chemistry developed much quicker and better than they anticipated, leading to the trio creating the extra tunes on the spot that were just too compelling to leave on the cutting room floor.
“Stars Go Up” is the first of eight group improvs, and it’s not lacking for harmonic development, organically building up to a dramatic crescendo and then quickly settling down to a discreet Bisio aside. The episodic “Birds of Passage” begins with an abrasive flourish but are moments of real elegance and the song is always moving forward, never staying stuck in one spot.
“Time is Another River” is a deeper exploration of the ‘new’ connection between Knuffke and Shipp and they improvise together with uncommon telepathy. There’s a stretch in the middle of “June Stretched” where Shipp backs out and Knuffke’s thoughtful phrasing over Bisio’s precise elliptical figure grabs your attention.
The Shipp-Bisio connection takes the front seat for “Shadows to Dance,” Knuffke justifiably content to add flourishes. “Heal The Roses” gets juice from Bisio’s relentless fast swing that Knuffke and Shipp thrive upon and “Today For Today” boasts sensitive features by all three, in tandem.
Kirk Knuffke has long been called a rising star cornet player but Gravity Without Airs is not the work of an ascending artist but a completely developed musician who has already ascended, expertly straddling the divide between advanced bop and avant-garde and lavishing in the support of two strong and sympathetic personalities.
Gravity Without Airs is now available, from Tao Forms. Get your copy from Bandcamp.
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