Aviation Trio (drummer Jeremy Jones, bassist Alex Dyring, and pianist Shawn Schlogel) have produced a new EP, Lookout Point Session, that is full of strong grooves, great playing, and fun compositions. In short, here’s what modern jazz can do. The 3-song EP from the Seattle-based trio has the requisite Dilla-inspired drum grooves and hip-hop/soul-inspired compositions that one might expect from a group of young musicians in 2016, but this trio pulls it off in a way that few others can.
The playing from each individual member of the trio is fantastic throughout, with Schlogel on acoustic piano for the first two songs and Rhodes for the final track and Dyring on electric bass throughout. The tunes are all anchored by a solid groove and have just enough composition to them to make them interesting, but not overly heady. There are solid solos throughout, particularly from Schlogel on the keys, and great group dynamics (check the breakdown toward the end of “Dance”). You’ll recognize the influence of Robert Glasper’s trio, particularly on “15-16”, but not in an ape-ish way, as the band brings their own flavor to the proceedings here.
Lookout Point Session is a brief listen, at three relatively short tracks, but everything on the album – every note, every kick drum, every bass lick – is flavor, pushing these songs forward. This is a group very much worth keeping an ear out for. Go get the album at the band’s bandcamp site.
Alex Dyring – bass
Shawn Schlogel – piano
Jeremy Jones – drums
Recorded and engineered by Ian Campbell at Lookout Point Studio in Edmonds, WA
Mixed and mastered by Ian Campbell at Afterpostmodernism in Denver, CO www.afterpostmodernism.com
Page layout and photography by Ian Campbell