More than a decade after issuing his debut LP, John Escreet finally felt prepared for a rite of passage: recording his first trio album.
On this year’s Seismic Shift—unlike on his past six offerings as a leader—there wasn’t a guitar, saxophone or trumpet to accompany Escreet. Instead, the English pianist was solely bolstered by Eric Revis’ woody, booming upright bass and the supple snap of Damion Reid’s drums. Just like Ahmad Jamal on At the Pershing, Bill Evans on Sunday at the Village Vanguard, and Duke Ellington on Money Jungle, there was nowhere in the soundfield for Escreet to hide.
Not that he would need to: several of his key collaborators agree that he could have done this earlier.
“I would have argued that John was ready a long time ago for a trio record,” says saxophonist David Binney, who accompanied Escreet on his first five records as a leader and put him in his bands. “John has had the goods for a long time,” says drummer Antonio Sánchez, his longtime employer as part of his band, Migration. “This is one of those moments where you have to just do it,” Reid adds. “Who knows how long he would have felt ready? But he seems like he’s comfortable playing with me, and we have a connection musically.”
Let’s hear it from the man himself: What compelled him to wait until now?
“It was an honest and accurate reflection of what was happening in my musical life at that moment in time,” he tells plainly. “Which would happen to be me delving into a trio format with Eric Revis and Damion Reid.” But a tossed-off insight about an older album provides even more insight into what makes this guy tick: “I will not record some s—t before it’s ready. I refuse. I will not do it.”
