Album of the Week

Triptych Myth
The Beautiful (Aum Fidelity)

Cooper-Moore, once a fixture on New York's 1970s loft-jazz scene, is the current that drives the Triptych Myth trio: a crackling AC outlet for the self-made musician's pianistic urges. In other guises, he's a composer for stage productions, a folklorist, and an inventor of stringed and percussive instruments like the twanger and the ashimba.

But on The Beautiful, the bandleader brings his native extroversion to bear on the piano-trio tradition—and boy howdy, does he ever give it an overdue boot in the ass. Triptych Myth's self-explanatory opening "All Up in It" sets the pace: lots of dramatic tension ignited by C-M's colorful use of glissando, and kept grooving by the crisp collusion of bassist Tom Abbs and drummer Chad Taylor of the Chicago Underground Duo/Trio.

What's refreshing about the pianist's outside-in approach, however, is the way it embraces uncommon variety. "Pooch," an elegy for the late bassist Wilber Morris, is a gentle theme with gospel flourishes whose reflective tone is offset by Taylor's dazzling percussive display—imagine French composer Erik Satie sitting in with bebop master Max Roach. The title track ("Frida K. the Beautiful"), originally penned for the stage, likewise juxtaposes languid stretches of lyricism with sudden bursts of fireworks. Elsewhere, the avant-garde vigor the musician is known for is translated into boppish rural reveries ("Poppa's Gin in the Chicken Feed") and delicate chamber pieces ("Robina Pseudoacacia").

Throughout the disc, Triptych Myth thrives on its own group dynamic. The trio functions neither as an ad-hoc jam outfit nor as an overbaked concept act. Instead, The Beautiful heralds an increasingly rare and welcome thing in jazz: a great working band.