Customer Reviews

Trance

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This album has inexplicably been omitted from the ECM release schedule in Europe and the US - thankfully the Japanese have done us the favour of reissuing this classic ECM album, recorded around 1975. It features Jack de Johnette on drums, Steve Swallow on electric bass, Sue Evans on percussion, and of course Steve kuhn onpiano and electric piano.

The title track has a hypnotic opening with a simple piano tune and a pulsing bass line, and evolves into a lush and romantic showpiece for Kuhn's piano. A couple of tracks are more fusion oriented, with the electric piano featuring prominently. One of these, "Something Everywhere", has a Latin flavour. Other pieces are much more avante garde. The last track on the album is a strange little piece featuring the voice of presumably Steve Kuhn, telling a little story - it's a fascinating end to a varied and lovely album.

It's bitterly ironic that my favourite Kuhn album 'Motility' which features the pianist's trio augmented by a sax/flute player, has disappeared into the graveyard of neglected albums. The romantic and sensuous sound-world it inhabited was truly gorgeous, and its re-appearance is long overdue. So, what has this got to do with this album, I hear you ask? Simply this: the pieces on this album share the same inherent lyrical heart, and some have become classics in their own right, especially the eponymous 'Trance', with Kuhn's crystal cascade of notes giving way to hesitant, more diffident playing, while the interplay with Swallow on bass, is a delight. DeJohnette's drumming is the sensitive beating heart of the enterprise, while Sue Evans percussion adds an extra texture to enrich the ensemble's work. 'Silver' and the bittersweet 'Life's Backward Glance' have gone on to become Kuhn classics in their own right. If you want to hear some seriously good jazz piano, this album is possibly the ideal introduction to Steve Kuhn. 'Remembering Tomorrow' is a very good alternative.Remembering Tomorrow