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Nothing, Knowing
Downtown Music Gallery review
Bruce Gallanter
GREG BURK TRIO [w/ STEVE SWALLOW & BOB MOSES] - Nothing, Knowing(482 Music 1037)
Featuring Greg Burk on acoustic piano & compositions, Steve Swallow on electric bass and Bob Moses on drums. Pianist Greg Burk studied with Paul Bley & Yusef Lateef, taught at Berklee College of Music in Boston and currently resides in Rome. He released two solo piano discs himself and has two CDs on Soul Note, which you might not have noticed as Black Saint/Soul Note had lost their US distribution for the past few years. Both Steve Swallow and Bob Moses you should well know since they are amongst the finest on their respective instruments and can be found on dozens of sessions throughout their nearly forty year careers in creative music-making. They were both members of various Gary Burton Groups in the late sixties to mid-seventies. The first note we hear is that golden toned bass that Swallow forever casts his spell with as Greg taps mystically inside the piano. This is quite a magical trio that weaves subtle waves as the tide rises and falls. Both Greg on piano and Steve on bass take superb solos throughout this fine offering. "Prelude to Surrender" is an interesting solo piano piece in which each hand moves together yet apart in different directions. "Truth Be Told" is a long piece in which we can hear the trio moving and making discoveries together. From a luscious, dream-like first section that builds beautifully in intensity and tempo as it escalates higher. A magnificent work that is simultaneously free yet completely focused. Mr. Burk has written some superb songs here, quite thoughtful, with rich melodies at the center that the trio embraces and sail away with. On "Look to the Neutrino" , Swallow plays this quaint melody as Burk embellishes it around him with Moses delicately weaving a rhythmic thread like a master tailor. The more I listen to this treasure, the more ideas I hear in different layers or sections. Without a doubt, one of the finest piano trio offerings I've heard in a long while.

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