DAVE BASS, Trio Nuevo Vol. 2

Since it’s been 15 years since pianist Dave Bass began recording again, it’s not essential that we dwell long on his unique musical journey, where a wrist fracture (from a slip and fall on the way to a gig) sidelined him from playing for several decades. Yet it’s fascinating to think how many lives outside the music realm he was able to touch in his lengthy interim career as a prominent lawyer, which culminate in a California 2009 Attorney General’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. Hopefully some of the folks he met in the legal profession have become fans of his incredible subsequent recordings, which now include Trio Nuevo (2024) and its even more compelling (if that’s possible!) sequel, Trio Nuevo Vol. 2.

Having done many gigs with the versatile, kick ass rhythm section of Tyler Miles (bass) and Steve Helfland (drum), Bass has noticed that “our playing has gotten even tighter. There’s almost a telepathic connection between us now.” That dynamically intuitive relationship allows them to create a multitude of interesting moods, from the dark, haunting elegant asking of “Questions” through the frenetic rhythmic shifts and surreal piano and drum solos of the enigmatically titled “Trinkle Tinkle” - whose arrangement is based on a 1954 Monk album.

Seems everyone likes to refer to full length albums as their own unique journeys, but on Vol. 2, the Trio Nuevo takes that concept quite literally (twice!), first on the playful and plucky, increasingly dramatic eight and a half minute romp “Latin Journey” (based on three previously existing pieces, including Bass’ own “Mi Montuno”) and a hypnotic, exciting “Journey With Bach,” which seamlessly melds excerpts from “Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor” and “Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue” as a springboard for improvisation.

Likewise, the collection begins with a wild, fast swimging mashup of another Bass original, “Legrand” and Wayne Shorter’s Lester Young homage, “Lester Left Town.” If Vol. 2 needed a subtitle, it could be “Fools Rush In.” The title of the tender, soulful ballad “Heart Above My Head” comes from one of Johnny Mercer’s classic lines in that song, and the trio later reworks the full song with a sensual samba flair.