Storyteller by Bireli Lagrene

Storyteller by Bireli Lagrene

There are things I'm not too keen on in Bireli Lagrene's latest record: some synthetic sounds in particular normally make me run away. And yet there is such an evident joy in the trio's playing that it wins me over. Bireli is so talented that he can play the most amazing runs clearly without having prepared them, and that spontaneity, the simple pleasure of collaborative improvisation shines through. The rest of the trio is in top form, and these standards revisited not necessarily in revolutionary ways, but certainly in delightful and interesting ways. I am reminded of John McLaughlin's The Promise in many ways.