Danny Fox Trio - Time Took Care of It (2023) Hi Res

"The group certainly doesn't operate like a typical jazz piano trio…Fox's original compositions are episodic, rigorously arranged, and generally eschew the usual song forms employed in mainstream jazz.” – Chicago Reader

Revered for “changing the sound and expectation of a jazz piano trio (John Schaefer, WNYC’s New Sounds),” the Danny Fox Trio releases its fourth album Time Took Care of It. Since its critically acclaimed 2011 debut, The One Constant (Songlines), the group has continued to push the boundaries of the classic piano trio format. Composer/pianist Danny Fox draws upon his considerable talents melding jazz and modern classical music on his latest album containing some of the most poignant and creative compositions of his career. Employing his long-time trio comprising bassist Chris van Voorst van Beest and drummer Max Goldman, the album showcases the group’s unique signature sound fueled by their wide-ranging interests in chamber music, bluegrass, and rhythm and blues, and anchored by their roots in jazz.

Formed in 2008, the Brooklyn-based Danny Fox Trio is a true working band. For the past 15 years, the trio has been developing a rapport that's immediately palpable in their music through countless hours of workshopping, gigging, and recording. This chemistry not only contributes to the precision of their performances, but allows each member to feel confident enough to take musical risks thereby giving the band a sound that is all-encompassing yet strikingly individual. According to The New York Times the trio’s sound is, “complete within itself and not in a hurry; it’s cool but not modish.” The Vinyl District cites: “The Danny Fox Trio puts an individualist stamp upon a form that often thrives on subtle differences in execution, as they solidify their existence as an extension of the long and vibrant piano trio tradition.”

Radiating the influence of classical music, but without the expectations that association can bring, the album’s 15 original tracks navigate through a vast array of grooves, harmonies, time signatures, tempo shifts, free improvisations, and dynamics while always remaining grounded in the thematic material, giving the music a seamlessness and cohesion such that it is both challenging and highly listenable. The piano, typically both the lead melodic and harmonic voice, rarely performs these two roles simultaneously. Instead, Danny opts for textures that feature the abilities of his bandmates and explore the more extreme ranges of the piano.

The album dazzles out of the gate with the dramatic “Altbauer” immediately showcasing the bass with a searching, lyrical melody before the piano leads the band on a climb to the summit. Another illustration of the bass elevating far above mere sympathetic support is “Dr. Bob” where Chris echoes Danny’s eerie, angular lines before a rhythmically fearless solo turn. Dedicated to Max’s father “Papa Joe” Goldman, the eponymous “Time Took Care of It” unfurls cascading lines from a folky piano figure, threading through various keys and grooves yet always adhering to the central theme. The simmering “Slow Ham” filters Danny’s love of Donny Hathaway and Al Green through Ravel-like harmony while also summoning his piano hero Richard Tee with furious left hand bass rumbling.

The music, although highly composed and structured, also contains ample space for interactive, often telepathic improvisation between the musicians: a triplet phrase that ricochets in split seconds from drums to bass to piano in the boisterous free sections of “So Long Mel”, Max and Chris perfectly anticipating Danny’s bluesy flourish in “The Ogres”, and the spacious but intense closing of “Something in the Shed.” Rather than adhere to the standard “melody-solo-melody” format, the trio weaves improvisation into the compositions in unexpected ways.

The epic closer “Post Vals” careens through varied landscapes: a sultry, down-home 6/8 intro, a jazz waltz, and a brisk bass-forward up-tempo swing. The piano and bass hone in on an earlier melodic fragment as the bedrock for a powerhouse drum solo to close out the album.

Since its inception, the trio has released three albums: The Great Nostalgist (2018), Wide Eyed (2013), and The One Constant (2011). Time Took Care of It was recorded in June 2022 at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, with sought-after engineer/mixer Seth Manchester and mastered by Grammy-winning classical engineer Mark Donahue.