Jeremy Ledbetter Trio - Gravity (2024)

Tracklist

01. Flight
02. Song of the River
03. Gravity
04. Two Cousins
05. The Stars in Her Sky
06. Port of Spain
07. Wonder

Toronto pianist Jeremy Ledbetter is something of a local legend on his native Canadian scene. A virtuosic and versatile pianist, he’s also a producer and multi-instrumentalist who’s as happy at the keys or synth as he is steelpan, harmonica, mandolin or didgeridoo. His trio, featuring internationally acclaimed drummer Larnell Lewis (a longstanding member of Snarky Puppy) and six-string bass guitarist Rich Brown (a high profile educator and touring member of Steve Coleman’s Five Elements), are also testimony to the world class talent coming out of Canada, which one can only hope gets even more attention in the wake of this accomplished album.

Ledbetter’s playing brings to mind flashes of Corea, Hiromi and even Monty Alexander, such is his ability to fuse many disparate styles into his own richly flavoured personal brew – the power of Brown and Lewis bringing both balance and bounce to the group sound. Thus Gravity, literally and conceptually brings these sonic forces together, with opener ‘Flight’ racing out of the gate, the pianist’s left hand locked in with the bass, drums snapping between fleet melodic lines.

Ledbetter is a fluid soloist too – as is Brown – but keeps his improvisations tight, easily melting from cascades of notes back to the punchy Latin-fusion vibes of the melody. The trio sound also expands out to include watery percussion on ‘Song of the River’ that’s built around two Afro-Venezuelan rhythms, which patter over a field recording from Río Autana deep in the Venezuelan Amazon, Brown’s languid bass keening like a fretless instrument (which it isn’t), on an impassioned solo, before dropping back into a snaking Brazilian-tinted unison line with the piano.

The title track stretches out into more esoteric terrain, a ‘vocalised’ high melody played with an E-bow on the bass fills the air with Arabic tonalities, before the rhythm team drop away to clear space for Ledbetter to construct his most memorable solo of the album, ahead of a percussive climax. For all the intricate interplay there’s a satisfying salty sweetness to the music, Brown’s deep, woody bass tone the bridge between Lewis’ faultless yet excitable drumming and Ledbetter’s pianistic prowess.

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