Lynne Arriale Trio

Being Human

Challenge

In addition to being compassionate about causes, and by all accounts a sincere and caring person, pianist and composer Lynne Arriale, delivers some of the most lyrical pianism today. Many have likened her to a musical poet. Her compositions ring with both beauty and emotion, and, as the title suggests, a wide span of themes from love and peace to violence and discord and the many shades that lie in between.  Being Human is her fourth album on Challenge Records and follows Chimes of Freedom (2020) which focused on the immigration crisis, while The Lights Are Always On (2022), examining the life-changing events after the pandemic. Here on Being Human Arriale delivers a plea for love, unity, and hope in this divisive world. By nodding to courageous people, Arriale is aiming to uplift us. While the litany of passion, courage, love, persistence, heart, soul, curiosity, faith, and joy may seem trite or too straightforward, they are indeed the song titles. Arriale convenes her trio of Israeli bassist Alon Near and Polish drummer Lukasz Zyta for both support and vigorous, animated interplay.

Opening with “Passion,” dedicated to Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg, we hear bursts of colors in her opening chords and building energy in her solo, buttressed by Near’s bassline and Zyta’s frenetic kit work, that culminates in a stirring solo toward the end of the piece. “Courage” is for the Ukrainian people standing up to the Russian invasion. The playing is dramatic and emphatic, bolstered by Zita’s backbeat. The steady movement in 6/8 time is meant to reflect the iron clad will of the people. Appropriately, there is nothing left to chance, ambiguity, or tentativeness in this performance. The tone lightens considerably in the simple, lullaby-like melody of “Love,” where Arriale takes the minimalist route of a Bach chorale where every single note counts. From its opening notes, “Faith” is suitably church-like, again rendered rather simply, with a folk-like melody set to Zita’s half-time groove, with Near’s robust plucking adding texture..

“Curiosity” brings angularity, dissonance, and jagged rhythm patterns. Here the trio sheds the typical lyrical approach for an opportunity to improvise freely as unpredictable moments signify the thrill of discovery and invention. The tune is dedicated to the autistic mathematician and physicist Jacob Barnett. The bluesy intro to “Soul” is an entirely different vibe. Arriale groups triplets in fours to conjure a combination of blues and swing as she hails poet Amanda Gorman, and especially the poet’s call for unity in The Hill We Climb, recited at President Biden’s inauguration. “Persistence” reveals perhaps the mist spirited interplay of the trio. This nods to the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Prize. Pakistani Malala Yousafzai established the Malala Fund to help educate children, having survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban. Zita fires up a maelstrom on the kit and coda’s ascending line symbolizes resolve and reaching ever higher.

The tone shifts to warmth in “Heart” as the repetitive theme courses through the piece dedicated to nurses and first responders, specifically Khrystyna Lopatenko. Bassist Near is especially declarative in his statement. The pensive ballad “Gratitude” is for Mattie Stepanek who battled a neuromuscular disorder that ravaged his nervous system and muscles but not before he published six books of poetry before passing at the age of 13. This is a major feature for the bassist, who exhibits comparable lyricism while Zyta plays most sensitively with the brushes. The brimming “Joy” carries a calypso motif and gives ample room to all three members to express themselves exuberantly as they hail Brene Brown, who received widespread acclaim for her TED Talk entitled “The Power of Vulnerability.” Joy begins bey accepting ourselves for who we are.  She closes the album with a reprise of “Love” with the chorale effects emanating from the Yamah Clavinova for a rather stunning and reverentially spiritual touch.

Arriale’s music is so expressive, the uninformed could guess some of these overarching titles just by listening.

• Jim Hynes

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