Shawn Lovato - Biotic (2026) [Hi-Res]

The pieces on Biotec—bassist and composer Shawn Lovato's third release as a leader—are adroitly configured for a sax-bass-drums lineup. Lovato wrote all seven tracks, and he fully embraces the stripped-down world of a small unit; there's a spare intensity to both the music and the trio's performances. Lovato's collaborators—tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Henry Mermer—excel in this bracing context. And the bassist's big, booming tone is a wonder.

On "Spling," Lovato and Laubrock play an evolving line that wiggles and squiggles and jabs. It's a restless, artfully discombobulated part that keeps the listener off balance. Mermer's freewheeling rhythmic net nicely meshes with, and supports, his bandmates.

The following cut, "Frequent Flyer," finds Lovato and Mermer crafting a tense, pulsating undertow for Laubrock's reading of the memorable melody. At one point, Lovato steps into the foreground as Mermer forges on. In contrast to the agitated excitement of "Spling," there is a sense of determined forward motion here.

"One Step from Anything Easy," Biotic's shortest track, is a freely improvised duet. A variety of timbres produced by bowed bass and tenor sax fuse, split, and echo in thoughtful ways; the result possesses the shape and detail of a through-composed work.

The first section of "Parachute Bloom" also features arco bass and tenor sax pairing off. In the next part, the two play a repeating figure that captivates, with Mermer adding a brushed beat that is low-key and effective. Toward the end, the trio briefly churns before returning to the quietly hypnotic rhythmic pattern that is at the center of this strangely beguiling closer. © Fred Cisterna