COMPOSERS: Dennis Rollins' Velocity Trio
LABELS: Dogwithabone Music
ALBUM TITLE: Symbiosis
PERFORMER: Dennis Rollins (trombone), Ross Stanley (Hammond organ), Pedro Segundo (drums)
CATALOGUE NO: DRV0001
Groups with no designated bass instrument are fascinating in the ways they deal with the harmonic freedom that results. There seem to be two basic approaches: you either allow your existing instrumentation to dip into the bottom end often enough to keep it in place, or you rely on the listener’s ear to supply it. Either can work in the right hands, but it’s always been to the Velocity Trio’s credit that it can not only do both but can slide from one method to the other with ease.
In a live situation this group produces genuine fireworks; Rollins is surely one of the trombone’s most articulate exponents and his expert sidemen provide the best possible underpinning for his inventiveness, so it’s a shame that the studio environment has something of a restraining effect on the resulting music. Buy this for the fine tunes, but catch a gig if you can.
Roger Thomas