Marty Ehrlich - Trio Exaltation (2018)

Marty Ehrlich has released his first trio recording in many years, entitled “Trio Exaltation.” For this new trio concept, Ehrlich has called on bassist John Hébert and drummer Nasheet Waits. All three were members together in the Andrew Hill Point of Departure Sextet, a group which brought Andrew Hill’s music strongly before the public in the last decade of Hill’s life.

This recording features eight new compositions by Marty Ehrlich, one of the most accomplished and celebrated composers and performers in the New Jazz. The one exception is the seminal composition of Andrew Hill entitled “Dusk”, which is also the title of the first Andrew Hill Sextet recording. Ehrlich writes that this is a work of “simple complexity which Andrew was a master of.”

This recording also includes a beautiful hymn in memory of Ornette Coleman, and a tribute to Pedro Costa of Clean Feed entitled “Senhor P.C.” Ehrlich uses his range of saxophone, clarinets, and flutes as the works on the recording moves from reflection to vigor and back. There is a great empathy between these three artists, as they explore “the exaltation of the moment.” Trio Exaltation is a new stage of Ehrlich’s ensembles, rich in urgency and sophistication.