Recommended: Rogier Telderman Trio – “Contours”

Contours is one of those recordings that pours out the melodies like a heady wine from a bottle that’ll never even come close to reaching empty.  Pianist Rogier Telderman leads a trio that keeps every glass full, and the opening track “Goodbye, Monsieur Belkin” is representative of how the trio plans for the rest of the evening to go.  It also shows the album in its best light, and when the trio pauses briefly to let a silence hang over the room, that initial taste of melody still lingers on.  “Sketch” has quite the same effect, though where the album opener was something of an introspective tune, this time around, the trio is bright and talkative as they roll out an intoxicating melody.

Even those tracks that anchor themselves to a groove eventually break free and dive back down into the melody’s depths.  “Skippy Mash” juxtaposes an insistent chatter from drummer Tuur Moens against the staggered cadence of bassist Guus Bakker, and on “Slippers,” their united front triggers a bit of a hop and a dance, but in both instances, the trio enters a fugue state of melody and suddenly the song has undergone a massive scene change.  These shifting phases are no less compelling than those tracks where the melody is the raison d’être.

A seriously enchanting album.

Your album personnel:  Rogier Telderman (piano), Guus Bakker (double bass) and Tuur Moens (drums, percussion).

Released on RM Records.

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

Jazz from the Tilburg, Netherlands scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | CDBaby