As I delved ever deeper into the 14 albums that document the Larry Goldings/Peter Bernstein/Bill Stewart trio to prepare for our January Zoom conversation, what struck me most was their consistent excellence as they evolved from promising 20-something aspirants to 50-something established masters. From Intimacy of the Blues, their 1991 debut, through their latest, this year’s Perpetual Pendulum (Smoke Sessions), they’ve always displayed an interactive approach, virtuoso execution, and emphasis on melody and groove. Each protagonist has synthesized polyglot influences into a personal solo sound; each enthusiastically abides by ensemble imperatives.
Perpetual Pendulum captures the trio combining the hardcore jazz- and funk-tinged mindset that marked its early recordings with the more expansive aesthetic of the album’s immediate predecessors, Ramshackle Serenade and Toy Tunes (Pirouet), recorded after steady touring in the early 2010s. The date gestated pre-COVID during a conversation between Bernstein and Paul Stache, the proprietor of Smoke Jazz Club, the Upper West Side venue where Bernstein has often performed, and its namesake imprint, which has released three Bernstein leader albums. Their acquaintance dates to the late ’80s, when the trio first coalesced at Augie’s, Smoke’s previous incarnation, where Stache worked before buying the room in 1998. Stache noted the trio’s impending 30th anniversary and suggested an album. The pandemic upended plans for an April 2020 date. A year later, the trio—gigless in the interim—convened at Sear Sound for a day of rehearsal and a day of recording.
“With us, the more it feels like just a gig, the better,” Goldings said. “We generally prefer not to labor over the recording process, mostly because there’s no time in a day or two. We have a long history of
