Phil Donkin - Keep It Clean (2023)

The three members of this trio have known each other for almost two decades and have played together in many formations. This particular recording took place at the end of a tour with Nils Wogram's Root 70, where Phil Donkin replaced bassist Matt Penman. The recording sat on a hard drive for 9 years before Donkin decided to release it. Jochen Rückert is known as a brilliant jazz drummer, always sounding modern whilst respecting the tradition. Equally adept at adjusting between his hard-swinging New York City environment, and his more flexible European hinterland. Hayden Chisholm and Jochen Rückert have known each other now for 30 years, since they were students together in Köln. That connection can be heard on this recording. Chisholm's sound and feel can make one think of Paul Desmond and Lee Konitz, but the actual content of his lines is far more individual, and he incorporates a unique mastery of quarter-tones into the language he has created. His lyricism on tracks like 'Every Time We Say Goodbye' or 'My Reverie' create a landscape of emotion and fantasy, majestically gliding above the sumptous rhythmic carpet that Donkin and Rückert lay out for him. Donkin's groove and infectious quarter note is the bedrock on which the magic bounces off, allowing Chisholm and Rückert to converse beautifully.

- Peter von Tulio