Recommended: Montagne! Trio – “Entre les Murs”

If I were to make a bullet point list of the qualities to the Montagne! Trio‘s Entre les Murs, it would lead you to expect that this is a tasteful, restrained piano trio, perhaps not unlike one of Brad Mehldau’s more laid-back recordings.

• Direct melodic fragments that unfold into lovely harmonic dimensions
• Introspective reveries that elicit daydream imagery
• A tight rhythmic approach that underpins melodies with a low center of gravity.
• Pairs well with rain falling outside an open window

But the album doesn’t really play out that way.  The opening track gives that impression, but from there, the trio of bassist Jules Martinet, pianist Daniel Roelli and drummer Clément Grin instigate a number of diversionary tactics to keep things interesting.  There’s the staggered changes of direction that defy an implied trajectory.  Bursts of dissonance emerge unexpectedly, and the trio’s seamless adoption of the disruption makes it seem natural and ongoing… until the peacefulness returns.  And then there’s the slight disturbances, like tiny splashes upon the surface of a placid lake, where the motion of the ripples seems to linger even after a certain stillness resumes.

And, strangely, it’s still easy enough to walk away with the impression that you got that Mehldau type of experience anyway.

Your album personnel:  Jules Martinet (upright bass), Daniel Roelli (piano), Clément Grin (drums) and guest: Leo Fumagalli (tenor saxophone).

The album is Self-Produced.

Listen to more of the album at the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Music from Lausanne, Switzerland.

Available at:  Bandcamp