Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart: Perpetual Pendulum

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Peter Bernstein (g)
Bill Stewart (d)
Larry Goldings (org)

Label:

Smoke Sessions Records SSR2201CD

April/2022

Media Format:

CD, DL

RecordDate:

Rec. July 2021

Like a long cool glass of water amid summer’s baking heat, what delight to come across something so simple, so good so damn right. Incredibly, Perpetual Pendulum marks 30 years of this trio’s joyous playing together, although they’ve know each other even longer than that. But there’s nothing taken for granted or predictable about their music, even when revelling in classics like the MJQ’s ‘Django’.

Likewise, another warhorse of theirs, ‘United’, a Shorter song from his Art Blakey days, has that bop propulsion but is richer, more relaxed than ever, with Stewart all over it like the sharpest suit you ever wore. If anything, the Trump era has given them a bigger kick as on the distinctly gnarly ‘F U Donald’. The music’s thankfully subtler than the title. Likewise there’s a vigour about ‘Let’s Get Lots’ (Lord, I wish I’d come up with that title), with Goldings’ runs angular but never off piste, perfectly matched by the telepathic Bernstein. It sure swings like a pendulum do.

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