Liebman/Swallow/Nussbaum/We3 Amazing – review

The American sax virtuoso Dave Liebman is a master who does not disguise his Coltrane inspirations, but he has rarely paraded such a wealth of saxophone homages (consciously or not) as he does here. It sounds as if the gauzy willfulness of Lee Konitz or Warne Marsh, the romanticism of Stan Getz and the rumbustiousness of Sonny Rollins have all crossed his radar over the years. This trio set features bass guitarist Steve Swallow and drummer Adam Nussbaum – a chordless group in which counterpoint with the daintily inexorable Swallow is key. On soprano, Liebman sounds old-fashioned and clarinet-like in the opening tune, one of four laconically graceful Swallow melodies. The vaporous Getz sigh comes in during a group-improvised ballad; Nussbaum's My Maia has a broodingly Coltranesque slow theme; Swallow's Bend Over Backwards sounds like The Pink Panther played by a tunefully braying donkey; and on the drummer's stealthy blues, Sure Would Baby, Liebman's whistling line sounds like an Andean panpiper playing blues. Maybe it's for jazz purists, but it's a delight.