Sometimes the simplest artistic statements can be the most compelling. This is what alto saxophonist
Jim Snidero
achieves on 2024's
For All We Know
. His first album not to feature a chordal instrument, it finds him pairing down his quartet from 2021's
Live at Deer Inn
and quintet from 2023's
Far Far Away
to a trio with longtime associates bassist
Peter Washington
and drummer
Joe Farnsworth
. Essentially a standards album,
is nonetheless an artfully rendered production with a stripped-down aesthetic that spotlights
Snidero
's warm, vocal-like tone and painterly lines. One of the young bebop lions of the '80s,
has gotten even more assured with age, with his playing having evolved into a vibrant amalgam of
Lee Konitz
,
Sonny Rollins
, and
John Coltrane
. There's a palpable sense of group interplay, especially between
and
Washington
, whose partnership goes as far back as
's 1987 debut album,
Mixed Bag
. Together, they conjure an atmosphere of warm camaraderie, but it's one that's charged with a creative electricity as each player works to fill in the space left open by the lack of a chordal instrument. Without a piano or guitar in the way,
has plenty of room to move, spiraling over
Farnsworth
's woody grooves as he accents each melody with ever more colorful harmonic flourishes. It's a cerebral, deconstructive vibe, yet one underscored with a lyrical romanticism, as on their opening rendition of the classic 1934 title track. Opening with a ballad is always a bold move, and the spare, midtempo romanticism of
's playing speaks to the intense focus at play throughout the album. Yet more ear-popping moments follow, including a poignantly rendered take on
Alec Wilder
Loonis McGlohon
's folky song "Blackberry Winter" and a smiling, soulfully grooving reading of the standard "Willow Weep for Me." Equally bold is his reworking of
's "Naima," yet another ballad placed early on the album. It starts with a hushed bass solo from
in which his bluesy lines refract against the shimmer of
's delicate cymbal work before
enters, playing the melody with a glowing, moon-like resonance. All of the songs on
are ones most jazz fans will have a deep familiarity with, yet
make them sound profoundly new, as if each one were their own. ~ Matt Collar