Hard to know exactly what shifted veteran guitarist Matt Panayides’ aesthetic mindset between his trippy and semi-experimental, electronics-influenced 2021 album Field Theory and his much more organic first-ever trio date With Eyes Closed.
But it’s great to hear a creative spirit that’s Panayides’ experiments with using guitar pedals and woodshedding with wind synth player Matt Vashlishah, he’s now keeping his ever-adventurous spirit out of the avant-garde realm entirely, performing a refreshingly melodic yet improvisation rich set of standards with his highly intuitive new trio of bassist Steve LaSpina and drummer Anthony Pinciotti.
Panayides makes the delineation between concepts clear in his liner notes, writing, “As technology’s influence growns and AI transforms our world, the line between reality and illusion fades. Amidst this backdrop, many of us long for something genuine. . .A trio is uniquely poised for this spontaneous yet purposeful role.”
This straightforward approach allows listeners to enjoy the vast Panayides artistry and crisp fluid lines as he rides over the trio’s inventive, alternately subtle and bustling grooves on classics like Frank Foster’s snazzy jazz waltz “Simone,” Chick Corea’s dazzlingly paced “Straight Up and Down,” Cedar Walton’s whimsically strutting, hard swinging “Hindsight” and Wayne Shorter’s spacious, moody and exotic “Nefertiti.”
Panayides later takes a thoughtful solo stroll through a tasteful, energetic twist on “Moon River, then brings the trio back for a buoyant romp through Woody Shaw’s “The Moontrane” before Panayides and LaSpina offer a haunting duet of “Darn that Dream” featuring a melancholy bowed bass.
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