Indigo Trio - Live in Montreal (and Chicago)

As promised, I am writing to review the new Indigo Trio CD recently released on Greenleaf Music, Live In Montreal. Since I also attended the album release party at the Velvet Lounge last night, I'm going to add in a review of their live show and generally condense the post into a discussion about the band, their interplay, and their musicality.

The Indigo Trio is...Nicole Mitchell on flutes and vocals, Harrison Bankhead on bass, cello, and vocals, and Hamid Drake on drums and percussion (in this case the frame drum).

Their new album opens with Harrison Bankhead's arco bass, soon accompanied by the fluttering of Nicole Mitchell's flute and then finally the addition of Hamid Drake's delicate brush work. Bankhead's bass, as is often the case in the live show, gives a lot of the music a sense of structure, harmonically and rhythmically, guiding the group "in" and "out."

Any notion you may have had about the flute being an inherently featherweight instrument in this heavyweight trio configuration are misguided. As Peter Margasak recently noted in his preview of the show, Nicole Mitchell is well on her way to becoming jazz's greatest living flute player. If she continues at the pace she's going as a musician, composer, and innovator, I think she has the ability to be the best ever. Her artistry, ability, and pliability as a musician is astounding, and she has an incredible presence both on the recording and live in person.

It's interesting for me to hear her in this particular trio because of what one of the forefathers of the Chicago scene, Fred Anderson has already done and accomplished with these same musicians. His work with Harrison Bankhead and Hamid Drake is truly incredible, and to hear her step into the same situation and make it her own is a testament to her abilities as an improviser and composer. Bankhead and Drake are in their usual state of responsive, attentive musicianship, toeing the fine line between being reactive and supportive and providing input and stimulus at the same time.

On both the album and in their live show, the trio shows a willingness to explore a wide variety of rhythmic and tonal settings, belying influences as diverse as roots reggae, afrobeat (I know Hamid Drake played reggae extensively in the 70s-80s, and Nicole Mitchell is a big reggae and afrobeat fan), hardbop, latin grooves, and everything in between. They also strike a nice balance, to my ears, between free improvisation and composed material, something that I appreciate in an improvising unit.

The album release show last night at the Velvet Lounge was packed and very well received by the audience, who were rapt with attention and very appreciative of the musical offerings. I hope we get to see the trio again soon, although I know that it will be a rare treat, as Nicole Mitchell is extremely busy and Hamid Drake is constantly traversing the globe with musicians like William Parker, David Murray, or Bill Laswell.

If you haven't picked up the album yet, you can do it here - $8 for instant gratification MP3s, or $12 for the album in the mail.