Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jake Baldwin, Zacc Harris, Pete Henning: Boundaries
Jake Baldwin, Zacc Harris, Pete Henning: Boundaries
ByThese three musicians are some of the top jazz players in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, where Baldwin and Harris each have their own critically acclaimed groups. Boundaries offers an opportunity for the players to take off in new directions.
Describing Boundaries as avant-garde, however, would be doing it a disservice. While there are freeform elements here, the music is accessible and far from experimental in the traditional sense. This is an excellent presentation of improvisational pieces, each with a trancelike quality not far removed from some ECM recordings. In fact, Boundaries resonates with the Palle Mikkelborg, Jakob Bro and Marilyn Mazur album, Strands (ECM 2023).
Boundaries has eight tracks, each spontaneously improvised, which emphasize collaboration and creation over individual performance alone. The idea for the album arose from a unique situation. The three musicians arrived at a recording session without a bassist. They decided to go ahead and see where the music took them. The result is an enjoyable amalgamation of styles and sounds that deserves attention.
Certain selections, such as "Crows" or "Fjords" have an almost cinematic quality to them. Like other tracks on the album, the songs build from a steady drone foundation in the background. The interplay of the trumpet and guitar over the background creates a trance-like atmosphere. Other songs, such as "Clowns" and "Tumbleweeds," provide a more experimental approach. With "Clowns," the sound is almost that of deconstructed bop, while "Tumbleweeds" offers a layering of sound giving a slight musique concrete feel. These compositions showcase the improvisational skills of each of the players in a cool, just enough "out there" manner.
Boundaries is one of those albums that invites repeated listening. As with any good art, the more you go back, the more you discover.
Track Listing
You Got The Best Of Me; Boundaries; Crows; Gravity; Tumbleweeds; Fjords; Clowns; Legs.
Personnel
Album information
Title: Boundaries | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Shifting Paradigm Records
< Previous
The Bad Plus: Flim
Next >
The Waits / InBetween Music
Comments
Tags
Boundaries
Album Review
Kyle Simpler
Shifting Paradigm Records
Jake Baldwin
Zacc Harris
Pete Hennig
Palle Mikkelborg
Jakob Bro
Marilyn Mazzur
For the Love of Jazz
![Get the Jazz Near You newsletter](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/2010/59f4fe0f64fdc2f368647dfd22f6686c.jpg)