Review: ‘Triple Fever’

Just when you think we’ve reached peak piano trio, a new recording arrives to demonstrate the infinite elasticity of the venerable formation. It happens so often as to become routine. Yet surprises still abound, and this is one, a digital-only EP from a hitherto unknown label – to me, at least – that is one of the most bracing releases of the young year. Triple Fever (dStream, 2024) is both the recording’s title and the name of the band, a clue that the Paris-based trio of pianist Benoît Delbecq, bassist Etienne Renard, and drummer Guilhem Flouzat is both a leaderless cooperative and more than an ad hoc project. That’s good news because the music is both kinetic and conceptually rigorous, polished yet spontaneous, and temporally concise but packed with fascinating detail.

Flouzat has recorded with Sullivan Fortner, Sam Gendel, and Dayna Stevens while Renard, the youngest of the three, has a Paris-centered career at the moment. Delbecq is probably the best-known of the three players on this side of the Atlantic, from his work with the cooperative quartet Illegal Crowns and his conceptually audacious recordings for Songlines at the turn of the century.

The opening cut, “Kebled,” seems to be Renard’s dedication to him (spell it backward and sound it out). It begins with a languid daydream of a melody over chattering drums, but the pianist soon loses the thread as though wandering off in conversation, then picks it up again before drifting off into the twilight. Delbecq’s piano is reminiscent of Vijay Iyer’s in his ruminative moods or Craig Taborn’s elliptical approach.

The stop-and-start conceit continues with Flouzat’s “The Stone We Left Unturned” with the composer laying down a gentle 4/4 backbeat on brushes. That rhythm and Delbecq’s gospel chords nod toward Keith Jarrett’s rock experiments for trio, but before the groove can dig in deep, the melody falls apart and resumes, like an actor pausing to get their line from the prompter and starting over. Where were we again?

There’s no such indecision on Delbecq’s title cut, a vaguely modal theme often in parallel octaves propelled by a pushy bassline and Flouzat’s galloping drums. On Illegal Crowns’ excellent Unclosing (Out Of Your Head Records, 2023) the piece was a feature for Taylor Ho Bynum’s cornet, but here the composer takes center stage in a Paul-Bley-meets-Ornette vein.

Line is a central concern of the trio, but the lines are seldom straight, especially in Renard’s “Liquide.” Like the squiggly cover drawing of the players, “Liquide” is loose and discursive with the three players coming together at the end for a statement over a strong rhythm.

The closer, Flouzat’s “Log Lady,” is presented as a “Twin Peaks” homage, but it seems equally inspired by the log drums of African pygmy music, a longtime interest of Delbecq’s. With the composer setting up a polyrhythmic groove over a pedal-point bass, Delbecq drops minimal enigmatic commentary, heavily pedaled and spacey.

The piece’s wide open texture is a hallmark of the recording as are the crystalline sonics. There’s never a sense of aimless noodling on Triple Fever. Delbecq, Flouzat, and Renard know exactly where they are going, playing with a strong sense of purpose.

That’s a lot of words for a release that’s barely 20 minutes in length, but there’s a lot of music on Triple Fever, and hopefully more on the way.

Triple Fever is now available on dStream. It can be purchased on Bandcamp.

Tracklist: 1. Kebled; 2. The Stone We Left Unturned; 3. Fever; 4. Liquide; 5. Log Lady.

Personnel: Benoît Delbecq (piano), Etienne Renard (bass), Guilhem Flouzat (drums).