Album Review: Prime Vintage from the Steve Snyder Trio

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Album:  Prime Vintage
Artist:  Steve Snyder Trio
Label:  DPU Records
Website:  https://stevesnyder1.bandcamp.com/album/introducing-prime-vintage

The Steve Synder Trio, led by pianist Steve Synder, embraces the smooth bluesy soundscapes, whittled by the organ trio format, notably following in the vane of Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Leon Spencer, and Larry Young.  The trio's debut release Prime Vintage offers Synder the opportunity to present his original work plus his reworking of Leo Nocentelli's score "Message From The Meters."  A prolific improviser, Synder flexes his attributes as a leader and harmonizer, taking cues from his musical influences while branching out on his own, entrusting his imagination and ear for melodious chord patterns to lead him.

Accompanied by Joel Tucker on guitar and Kenny Phelps on drums, the Steve Synder Trio take the leap into jazz improvisation, honing an ease of motion that makes their music pleasing. The harmony, which the threesome produce in "So That's What This Is All About," is aurally calming as the trio finesses the sonic passages to a creamy lather.  For some, the music leaves one with the impression of the "Calgon Take Me Away" commercials.  It is music that one will enjoy being surrounded by during moments of treating ones self with a metaphysical-type of self-healing.

The incremental and intricate developments of Synder's keys ruminating solemnly along "Those Two" are magnified by Tucker's dulcet riffs.  "Thank You" kicks the tempo up to a saucy pace as Phelps's perky drumbeats pervade a light and carefree spirit.  The lyrical phrasing of Synder's keys traversing across "Fourth Sixth" project an amicable impression, resonating in harmony with Tucker's guitar.  

The recording conveys smooth bluesy grooves along "So Be" and a bopping rhythm through "Legacy."  The arrangement for "Message From The Meters" is a tribute to organist Leon Spencer, and shows Synder's agile mind and the physical agility in his fingers canvassing the keys, continuously keeping himself engaged in the music.

A leader, an organist, a composer and arranger, and a professor of jazz studies, Steve Synder illustrates a talent to create harmonious patterns in the organ trio format.  From structured motifs to imaginative improvisations, Synder is a well-rounded artist, wholeheartedly engaged in developing harmonious passages.

Musicians:
Steve Snyder - organ
Joel Tucker - guitar
Kenny Phelps - drums

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