Dan Moretti - Tres Muse Project (2009)

Tracklist

01. Off the One (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)
02. Cajun the Squirel (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)
03. Mumbo Jumbo (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)
04. Fais Do-Do (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)
05. The Whisper (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)
06. Invoke (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)
07. Guacamaya (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)
08. The Corner (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)
09. Walk the Talk (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)
10. Ready Set Free (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)
11. Leelander (feat. Marty Ballou & Marty Richards)

Dan Moretti is among those teaching musicians in the jazz world who have spent considerable time performing with every possible type of player in every possible genre. This can often lead musicians to lose their own distinct singular sounds in favor of a wide range of influences (and indeed, Moretti cites at least eight major influences just in the liner notes here). However, Moretti breaks free of the usual failings with a relatively steady sound on Tres Muse. Within a piano-less trio, he explores a variety of post-bop wanderings, but keeps his own sound fairly stable. He squeaks and squawks a bit, he croons a bit, he grooves plenty. He rarely settles down for a major solo to speak of, but the energy is constant. Along the way, Moretti and his rhythm section (drummer Marty Richards and bassist Marty Ballou, who both hold up outstanding levels of structure) spend time with New Orleans second line-style grooves, with folk ballads, and with deconstructed pieces of melody from time to time. The music is at once exploratory and safe, free-form and careful. The destinations are somewhat straight down the middle of the road, but the journeys there can make for interesting listens.

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