| BRIAN ALLEN WITH TONY MALABY AND TOM RAINEY - SYNAPSE REVIEW from Downtown Music Gallery Newsletter: Featuring Brian Allen on trombone, Tony Malaby on tenor sax and Tom Rainey on drums. Brian Allen left us with a fine duo disc with Reuben Radding a few months ago and now has a new trio disc with more well-known downtown greats: the ubiquitous Tony Malaby on tenor sax (too many bands to mention) and the distinguished and ever in-demand Tom Rainey on drums (Tim Berne's main collaborator). Nice to hear both Tony and Tom playing more freely than usual. Tom Rainey has this special way of spinning around the groove and shifting the dynamics in different directions, whipping up a storm, yet he is always centered. Since Brian's pieces are much shorter than Tim Berne's usual 10+ minutes, circular excursions, Tom must do his thing in miniature amounts. Each member of the trio starts off a section or piece, as the other players take their time to come in and respond. When Tom finally hits his stride, the other two weave their lines around him. The trio sometimes take the cautious approach as they slowly weave their lines, a few notes a time, building together as they spaciously swirl around one another. In a blindfold test, someone would be hard-pressed to figure out who the leader was or is. Everyone gets a chance to stretch out in perhaps a different way than we usually hear them. An unexpectedly modest and thoughtful trio date.- BLG |