{"id":17030,"date":"2025-11-21T12:33:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T18:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=17030"},"modified":"2025-11-22T11:30:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T17:30:41","slug":"tim-whalens-trio-volume-1-is-as-good-as-wisconsin-jazz-piano-trios-get","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=17030","title":{"rendered":"Tim Whalen’s “Trio Volume 1” is as good as Wisconsin jazz piano trios get"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What starts off with the accidental-sounding title \u201cUh Oh\u201d rises as a knowing \u201cbouncing with Bud\u201d type groove, angular but shapely, harmonical lithe. This reminds me to note Whalen\u2019s last album was\u00a0Oblivion: The Music of Bud Powell<\/i>, an ambitious and insightful absorption of the great bop pianist\u2019s\u00a0oeuvre<\/i>, a giant who remains in the shadows of others. Another of Whalen\u2019s primary sources is Chick Corea, whose music he performs, though mostly it\u2019s originals.<\/p>\n

This album secures the Milwaukee native in my mind as perhaps the root of a triad of the very best straight-ahead Wisconsin jazz pianists currently working. Moreover, it\u2019s probably the best jazz piano trio album I\u2019ve heard from a Badger.<\/p>\n

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Jazz pianist-composer Tim Whalen. Courtesy allevents.in<\/em><\/p>\n

The Corea he evokes most is the early phenom of the seminal trio album\u00a0Now He Sings, Now He Sobs,<\/i>\u00a0far more than the popular \u201cSpanish Heart\u201d mode of later years. Whalen wields that sort of burning facility, though not like the somewhat jamming \u201cNow He Sings.\u201d Here he adjusts his flame to a rich range of temperaments and ideas. \u201cFor Chick\u201d is pensive with understated dramatics. And akin to the aforementioned album, drummer Hannah Johnson evokes the great Roy Haynes, especially on a tune like \u201cJanuary Beginning\u201d with a propulsive snap and crackle of cymbals and snare. It\u2019s actually a minorish theme that seems to honor the month\u2019s atmospheric weight but with a conscious sense of pursuing elusive New Year\u2019s resolutions.<\/p>\n

Corea\u2019s \u201cHome Universe \u2013 Eternal Child\u201d is a fascinating, deftly assembled diptych of grace notes and deeply felt accents reminiscent of the minimalist album cover of three curving strokes of paint, signifying the trio. This also sounds like a child reaching out tentatively, discovering something on her fingertips, which she\u2019ll grow to know. Yet this ain\u2019t the sound of innocence, she\u2019s already an old soul. Some of Whelan\u2019s deep chords hoist a child to the sky. It\u2019s sonic poetry.<\/p>\n

Cole Porter\u2019s \u201cSo in Love\u201d isn\u2019t wimpy romantic brooding, rather the sound here of a bursting heart of heady passion, with Corea-esque blazing. Bassist John Christensen\u2019s swift walking bass drives it while Johnson\u2019s drums flare crystalline. Elsewhere, Christensen’s solos are always quietly lyrical and intelligent.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more, but it resolves with the closer \u201cSecond-Hand Caffeine,\u201d effortless pianistic sprinting over a Latin-esque tempo and a back beat creating a buoyant tension from perhaps the most joyously bounteous local drummer we\u2019ve heard in a long time.<\/p>\n

____________<\/p>\n

Tim Whalen\u2019s album release party is tonight, Friday, Nov. 21 at The Estate. Sets are at 7 and 9:30<\/i><\/p>\n

The trio will also play at the North Street Cabaret, 610 North Street, in Madison, at 8 on Dec. 6.<\/em><\/p>\n

Purchase\u00a0Trio Vol. 1<\/em>\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This review was originally published in The Shepherd Express,<\/em> here:<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/shepherdexpress.com\/music\/album-reviews\/trio-vol-1-by-tim-whalen\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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What starts off with the accidental-sounding title \u201cUh Oh\u201d rises as a knowing \u201cbouncing with Bud\u201d type groove, angular but shapely, harmonical lithe. This reminds me to note Whalen\u2019s last album was\u00a0Oblivion: The Music of Bud Powell, an ambitious and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[221,2747,2748,2153,242,2751,2750,2749,223,2746],"class_list":["post-17030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-www-kevernacular-com","tag-bud-powell","tag-chick-corea","tag-cole-porter","tag-hannah-johnson","tag-john-christensen","tag-now-he-sings-now-he-sobs","tag-oblivion-the-music-of-bud-powell","tag-roy-haynes","tag-tim-whalen","tag-trio-volume-1"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hJWE-4qG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17030"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17040,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17030\/revisions\/17040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}