Exclaim - ARC Trio Triptych Mirror
By Glen Hall

What makes this CD so compelling is its sheer musicality: when it’s textural, it paints with luminous colours and timbres; when it’s rhythmical, it darts and weaves; when it’s lyrical, it sings. Led by pianist Rick Helzer, a professor of jazz studies at San Diego State, the trio listen acutely to each other without climbing over one another to comment on every idea. Instead, they have a sophisticated understanding of space and of call-and-response improvisation. Helzer has a mature, individualised style, by turns reminiscent of Paul Bley, Andrew Hill and Denny Zeitlin, but it’s never derivative. Bassist Justin Grinnell locks onto the flow of the music and creates flowing lines of intriguing subtleties, which find hidden riches in spots other bassists often overlook. On tunes like “Ballad of the Credit Card Millionaire,” drummer Nathan Hubbard is sure-footed, providing lively, supportive interplay that unifies the music and shows why players love the balance and freedom that can only be found in a really good jazz trio. And ARC Trio are a really good jazz trio. (Circumvention)

Tokafi - CD Feature - ARC Trio: "Triptych Mirror"
The music clearly steps beyond the usual definitions of modern jazz.

There is jazz, and there is ARC Trio. Three extremely dedicated and gifted musicians, who know each other since forever, team up for this exciting group. Their first release is called Triptych Mirror, and the title illustrates perfectly the concept this album pursues: Let everyone's personal strength and ideas be reflected in the other musicians unique ability, and let everyone's unique performance blend into a new, common picture. A picture called ARC Trio.

This concept has been realized in an almost breathtaking way. Rick Helzer, piano, Justin Grinnell, acoustic bass and Nathan Hubbard, drumkit, percussion and vibraphone are not only accomplished masters of their instruments, they also master the art of blind understanding, effortlessly complementing each another to a degree that at the end a homogeneous result is displayed, equally balanced and creating impressive monolithic music. This, for starters, is something only few really achieve. In this case, it surely has been done.

Let's go to the music. What surprises me is the effortlessness with which these sounds are accomplished. Even extremely difficult technical adventures come as natural and easy as the flight of an albatross without even once moving its wings, just sailing through the atmosphere in perfect harmony and beauty. This characteristic is true for the whole CD. At the same time, there seems to be a constant dialogue going on, one theme reflected like in a mirror - sic - forcing the answer of the other musicians, and all that in an truly emancipated manner. One beautiful example, besides many others, is the interaction between piano and vibraphone on the track sundial l. Absolutely stunning.

There are many other themes, sometimes constructed like a complicated structure, being built with finesse and driven home by creative outbursts, yet being exercised with the precision of a swiss watch. But this precision never ever leads to some boring kind of soulless presentation, just the opposite is true: It enhances the musical themes, it adds to the understanding and the feeling that catches the listeners mind even more effectively.

Equally impressive is the general cutting-across-boundaries atmosphere created on this album: The music clearly steps beyond the usual definitions of modern jazz and sometimes leads into areas, where only the unbiased idea reigns. No definitions, just plain creativity. To be honest, I could not even think about explaining some of the sounds I heard, but I trust that they were somehow achieved with the above mentioned instruments. They add a touch of experiment to the whole work, which surely is not only allowed but desired, blending ideally into the great picture displayed by the Tryptich Mirror.

Well, this first album can only be described as very successful in its musical realization. Every note is worth listening to, and I hope that I will get the opportunity to hear more releases of ARC Trio. Congratulations!

By Fred Wheeler

babblefish translation -

A serale summery climate, leggiadra the breeze that invades the skin and refreshes the mind, becomes the ideal scenografia for immettere in the reader and coming near to sophisticated, splashes the brioso one, ' light' jazz of the ARC Trio. An other of those new creatures impro-jazz that us sopraggiunge from the fruitful one the West Coast forges gravitante round. All of the same geographic extraction, therefore, the members of the trio: from Rick Helzer to the plan, Justin Grinnel to the bottom, in order to end to the ritmica of Nathan Hubbard; as you will know, Co-founder of the aforesaid one label, let alone active agitator of all the Californian scene. What bubbles in pot, of sure, not ago of "Triptych Mirror" a spericolato and informal treaty of jazz border-linens, Indians which, we are not next to the previous ones works of Circumvention house. That that our neurons savour, instead, is a jazz delicate, harmonious, never excessive, than extension a kind sobrietà, held very of eye, also when to form itself they are intervals of matrix (of all) improvised. A target, therefore, mesto where the participation grafts of vibrafono of meticulous Hubbard of and particular harmonies, inserted to small doses risalterà with costanza of the keyboard of Helzer the nearly onirici search and, between perennial know them and you come down of classic timbriche jazz. We are from the parts of Anthony Coleman and one sure newyorkese formation of jazz post ' 90 from the easy melodica action. It goes rewarded, however, the scioltezza in the technique and the complete presence of partiture originates them, signed to turn from the three ' militi'. - Sergio Eletto - Sands (Italy)