Tom Harrell
Form

Every one of the five times I've attended a concert by trumpeter Tom Harrell, I've been reminded that music is something extraordinary. Imagine a lanky, awkward figure who, with crossed arms, is accompanied on stage by an assistant because otherwise, he wouldn’t find it. And now try to see him as he brings the instrument to his lips and becomes someone else: confident, aware of his worth, an authoritative band leader despite the schizophrenia that's afflicted him since his youth.

Perhaps it is this that has allowed him to acquire an extraordinary musical expressiveness that also gives him courage. He could have, like many other colleagues, taken refuge in tried-and-true standards to which his wonderful phrasing would have given renewed brilliance. Instead, in his albums with Contemporary Records, "Stories" and the marvelously melodic "Sail Away", Tom chooses to take the challenge on a compositional level, and in 1990 he goes even further with "Form", crafting his test of maturity with an album as beautiful as it is unspectacular and unconventional. For this, he surrounds himself with absolute champions of contemporary jazz: Joe Lovano on sax, Charlie Haden on bass, and Paul Motian on drums. With them is the still young Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez who revealed himself to the jazz audience.

Six splendid tracks that leave the enthusiast amazed, called in turn to a test of maturity, requiring competence to unravel the complex harmonic unfolding of a suite like "January Springs", suspended between lyricism and instrumental technique. The soft sonic carpet laid down by the luxury "supporting actors" only serves to magnify Harrell's mastery of the instrument and the finesse of his phrasing. The dynamism of tracks like "Brazilian Song" (highlighting Danilo Perez) and "Rhythm Form" (with a grand Lovano on tenor sax) temper that atmosphere that demands maximum attention from the listener, and essentially it's an album recommended to all fans of contemporary jazz. Because it's hard to find anything better.