Being his first album as leader since 2019’s mainly solo Soul of the Bass, the esteemed heavyweight veteran bassist John Patitucci flies out of the traps with a new sax-bass-drums trio release Spirit Fall on the UK’s Edition Records.

It’s a reflection on Patitucci’s unique musical journey that has included long stints with late 20th century jazz giants Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. Sounding at once both spontaneous and refined – something only the highest quality jazz musicians can deliver when in the mood – the saxophonist Chris Potter is at his very best, matching Patitucci’s strident bass for bold, athletic, sinewy expression alongside Brian Blade’s organic, agile responsive beats.

‘Think Fast’ is a high-octane opener in the spirit perhaps of Sonny Rollins’ trio on Freedom Suite but with a contemporary fusion-like thrust. Next up is the more spacious but equally strong ‘Pole Star’ its theme reminiscent of the late Wayne Shorter whose superlative post-millennium quartet of course featured the Patitucci-Blade rhythm right up until his death in 2023. ‘Deluge on 7th Avenue’ is a musical commentary on the turbulent weather outside the Village Vanguard during a monthly residence but surely reflects the stormy set going on inside its hallowed walls too, although it’s actually a mid-tempo modernist blues that Potter turns inside and out, managing to make old sounds fresh with increasing bluster.

The right-on-the-money funk groove on ‘Lipim’, the enigmatic ‘Light in the Darkness’ featuring Potter on bass clarinet, and the calypso-ish ‘Sonrisa’ demonstrate the deeply-rooted yet stylistic breadth of Spirit Fall. Patitucci shifts to six-string electric on ‘Thoughts and Dreams’ and the title track, and to a more meditative space capturing a slinky old R&B-soul vibe on the former’s coda, while Potter’s searching soprano sax on the latter track signals his love of Trane. A disc supreme.