Karen Sharp Trio: Another Place

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Simon Thorpe (b)
Colin Oxley (g)
Karen Sharp (ts, bs)

April/2020

Media Format:

CD

Catalogue Number:

KLS001

RecordDate:

March 2019

Sharp is a busy presence on the wider jazz scene these days. Her quartet with pianist Nikki Iles tours regularly and their recent CD earned plaudits from many, including me. Now comes a further reduction in numbers with this elegant-sounding trio, which she says has been playing gigs for a while.

Sharp has always cited Dexter Gordon as her initial inspiration but this pared-down environment seems to call for a less rumbustious approach and to me that seems to reflect a more Getz-ian state of mind on her part. Mind you, Sharp has the non-Getzian option of baritone to add a further variation, this in evidence on a calm-sounding Jobim composition and on Lee Konitz’s perky ‘Thingin’.

‘Lady Luck’, a nicely intricate Thad Jones tune opens, with the theme voiced by tenor and guitar, Thorpe’s bass perfectly placed, Sharp and Oxley soloing with the kind of relaxed ease that is hard to do and which immediately engages. With several originals by Thorpe and another by Sharp, it’s also the choice of pieces that attracts: the Jobim and Konitz tunes are accompanied by others by Bill Evans, Steve Swallow and Clare Fisher, this thematic open-mindedness engendering responses that often seem pleasingly conversational.

Oxley is adroit and composed in all that he does, and clearly relishes the interplay with his companions, a good example being ‘Funkallero’ by Evans. Never raucous or agitated, always thoughtful, this is as accomplished an album of close-quarters trio jazz as you could wish for and a diverting step forward for Sharp.

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