Koppel Blade Koppel

Time Again

Cowbell Music

This organ trio emerges surprisingly. We’ve gotten used to the trio albums, three of them, from altoist Benjamin Koppel, drummer Brian Blade, and bassist Scott Colley. We’ve also witnessed that same threesome performing in front of Anders Koppel’s brilliant symphonic piece, The Mulberry Street Symphony. Yet, close followers of this father (Anders) and son (Benjamin) will recall a bonus track of sorts on that same album where Anders Koppel joined the trio, forming a quartet for a live version of “Puerto Rican Rumble” which is also the opening track on this trio record with the two Koppels and Blade. The Koppels are two of the most prolific and important musicians on the European scene.  Readers of these pages will also recall Benjamin’s searing musical project, The White Buses, and as it turns out, he is issuing another massive orchestral/vocal project around this time, Story of Mankind A Requiem dealing with the savagery of war and man’s cruelty. Yet, there are others in Benjamin Koppel’s catalog that speak to the swing and soul of this classic organ work. These are great albums worth seeking out – The double CD The Art of the Quartet with pianist Kenny Werner, bassist Colley, and drummer Jack DeJohnette as well as another double CD in this same wheelhouse – The Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue featuring Randy Brecker, Colley, and drummer Bernard Purdie among others.  So, let’s retreat to that opening sentence. Now that you get a sense of the breadth of the Koppels’ work, a classic organ trio album shouldn’t be that surprising.

Through that opening you know quite a bit about Benjamin, but the stateside listeners likely know less about Anders who is an icon in Europe, principally with his band Savage Rose (1969-1975) which performed at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1971, sharing the stage with Blood, Sweat, and Tears and Sly and the Family Stone. He’s recorded often with pianist Kenny Werner and with founding member of Weather Report, Miroslav Vitous. The last few decades of Anders’ career have produced chamber music, ballets, and large orchestral works but when the time permits (“Time Again”) he loves to get behind his trusty Hammond and swing as he does here. Four of these eight were composed by Benjamin with Anders credited on three and Keeny Werner on one.

The opener “Puerto Rican Rumble” extended for nine minutes on The Mulberry Street Symphony, is culled to a more succinct five plus minutes here with one fewer player but the trio bursts out of the gate firing on all cylinders, Benjamin’s alto wailing and the organ swirling with Blade’s insistent propulsion. Anders’ “If You Forget Me” simmers with his intro and deeply soulful tones from Benjamin with Blade gently marking time but it builds with the kind of intensity we might associate with the great tenorist, soul giant King Curtis. Keep in mind that Benjamin led an octet on The Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue that did justice and more to classic tunes from Buddy Miles, Curtis Mayfield, and Otis Redding. This is every bit as soulful, clearly the opposite of that famous line in Shakespeare’s Hamlet – “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

Typically, an organ trio has a tenor saxophone instead of an alto, but Benjamin is such a deeply expressive player that one hardly notices the difference. Listen to him wail passionately on “Mavis” while his dad and Blade are masterful in their ‘in the pocket’ playing. Anders’ “Bazarre Revisited” is a lengthy, mysterious, and cinematic piece that stands apart, not just due to its length, but its use of space, and dramatic intrigue punctuated by Anders’ by turns churchlike and Garth Hudson-like organ, Benjamin’s darting, jabbing lines as well as Blade’s judicious cymbal flurries and creative drum solo.  The trio opts for a more contemporary gesture on Benjamin’s title track, welcoming hip hop artist and rapper Al Agami (who lives in Denmark) in to do his thing. Werner’s “Fall from Grace” is a sublime, melancholy ballad with exceptional lyricism and restraint from the trio. Naturally the trio unleashes power and gritty soul on Benjamin’s “Should Have Put a Ring On It” while Anders’ closer “Blind Man” reveals the trio’s knack for drama, as they gradually morph from deep balladry to bluesy and gospel-inflected passages.

Koppel, Koppel, and Blade give the ‘classic’ organ trio a refreshing facelift; both an infectious intersection of jazz, soul, and gospel; with creative music that has the unique stamp of the Koppels.

• Jim Hynes

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