Kirk Knuffke Trio - Gravity Without Airs (2022)

The exemplary & well-traveled cornetist Kirk Knuffke presents a bold new trio - w/ bassist Michael Bisio & pianist Matthew Shipp - on an intimate & expansive double album. Gravity Without Airs features the three world-class musicians on both Knuffke compositions and in open form, creating a tour-de-force of poetry and verve, melody and mystery. This is Knuffke's debut as a leader for TAO Forms. It follows on his elemental contribution to James Brandon Lewis' Jesup Wagon - one of the most acclaimed jazz releases of 2021, securing the coveted top spot in both the JazzTimes Critics Poll and the international Jazz Critics Poll established by Francis Davis. Accolades for the cornetist's own recent work as leader include NPR's Jazz Album of the Year laurel for 2017's Cherryco, his homage to Don Cherry, a prime influence. DownBeat praised the way that album showcased Knuffke's "nonchalant versatility and ebullient melodic gifts," while esteemed critic Francis Davis called it "nothing short of spectacular." Davis also wrote the liner notes for Gravity Without Airs, noting the allure of Knuffke's instrumental aplomb: "Kirk plays as if his cornet is a part of him - he plays with it, not just on it." On his guiding artistic impulse, Kirk Knuffke says: "I'm concerned with making beautiful music. Beauty is always first, though not in a precious way. It can be in a rough way, too." A prolific, lauded record-maker, Gravity Without Airs fulfills his poetic aims as well as any recording he has made. This work finds Knuffke in the rare, even unique, trio format of cornet, piano and double-bass. His partners are two ever-estimable pillars of creative music, and the work they've created together here brims with melody and mystery, intimacy and dynamism.