Leimgruber Demierre Phillips Last concert in Europe at the Space Lucerne - JW227 -

The performance documented on this remarkable recording isn’t likely to be the last concert by the trio of Leimgruber-Demierre-Phillips. It was, however, the last one for the foreseeable future, with bassist Barre Phillips having moved back to the U.S. after many years living in France. The concert was not intended to be the last, though, and in any event it might be just as useful to think of it as their first. It isn’t their first concert either, of course. The trio has released a half dozen albums over the last 20 years, each with the freshness of a first encounter. There’s always a sense of discovery in their playing, as if it were their first time meeting. The trio seems somehow to exist perpetually at dawn. That may be because, at least to my ears, they’re such different players but they’re constantly taking cues from one another. Listen to the apparent ease with which Leimgruber shifts from foreground to background. Notice the musculature in Demierre’s delicate playing. And consider how quickly Phillips responds, underscoring the saxophone and piano not with tonal support but by adding context. As a trio, they’re assuredly, even boldly, sublime. So the encounter in Lucerne in December, 2021, documented on this recording wasn’t a last concert and it wasn’t a first concert either but it was, at any rate, the first time they played this particular concert and regardless of being a first meeting or a last, or even if both are true, there’s wisdom in the conversation. None of the participants rush to dominate the discussion. They bring different perspectives—indeed they come from different generations and different lands (Phillips the octogenarian American has nearly 20 years on his Swiss counterparts)—but they share a commitment to the project at hand, an effort greater than any solo. Are they in agreement? They are beyond that, and that, it seems to me, is beyond discussion. Kurt Gottschalk, NYC, 2022