Jeff Fuller & Friends - Happenstance (2018)

‘Happenstance’ by definition means a fortuitous coincidence; an unusually good event that arises by chance. On this album, happenstance means a blending of improvisation and composition resulting in some truly great moments of both planned inspiration and spontaneous coincidence. The musical language of each player has merged ever closer on this, the group’s third album since 2014. Totally tuned in to each other’s thoughts, we are comfortable and at ease with the joyful and intense process of creating challenging music together.

Jeff Fuller & Friends is made up of Jeff Fuller on bass, Darren Litzie on piano, and Ben Bilello on drums. The classic jazz trio format gives rise to, and makes room for, many delightful moments of serendipitous exchange. In no small part this is due to listening – each member of the trio evidently hears the conversation as a whole while adding their own thoughts to the process. The result is an emotional, intelligent and lucid story that carries through from the first note to the last.

The songs are a mixture of original compositions by Jeff and Darren, as well as a couple of standards re-arranged in the trio’s unique style. “Happenstance,” the title tune, is offered twice: in a new instrumental version (it was included in the 2014 release “The Call From Within”), and in a vocal version featuring Connecticut’s outstanding young jazz vocalist, Atla DeChamplain, interpreting the fresh lyrics by vocalist Ellynne Rey.

Darren Litzie offers “Nice Try” which features drummer Ben Bilello, and a remarkable update of “Cry Me A River.” Fuller’s newest compositions include “Will O’The Wisp,” the beautiful ballad “See The Light,” and the powerful samba “Manhã de Primavera.” The beboppish “Upside Down” is one of his older compositions (1992).

A solo piano version of “Scorpio” is dedicated to Fuller’s mother, who was, of course, a Scorpio. When you throw in an Afro-Cuban version of Jerome Kern’s “All The Things You Are,” Fuller’s folksy “Grandstand” and the Brazilian “SambaNova,” you have a marvelous mixture of melodies, harmonies and rhythms – a potent setting for true improvisational happenstance.