The musical backgrounds of the three musicians involved alone will make those in the know go crazy. Guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, saxophonist Josh Johnson and bassist Sam Wilkes have played with and for Perfume Genius, Anna Butterss, Jeff Parker, Meshell Ndegeocello, Sam Gendel and Chaka Khan. Uhlmann and Johnson are also members of the jazz band SML. On their first album together as a trio, they play improvised music that mostly stays within a melodic framework, even if the melodies and arrangements sometimes go off the rails.
Uhlmann, Johnson and Wilkes do not organize an atonal high-speed spectacle. Nevertheless, the level of abstraction in this music is so high that, despite the softness and introspection, there is never a suspicion that the three musicians are sticking jazzy, painted wallpaper on the wall. When Johnson briefly plucks the strings of his guitar and Uhlmann plays as if he just wants to blow through the mouthpiece of his saxophone, it is reminiscent of microtonal music on the border between jazz and new music. And that is exactly where this trio is at home.
