Album Review: Stories From Solitude from the Domi Edson Trio

Album:  Stories From Solitude
Artist:  Domi Edson Trio
Label Name: Self-Released
Website: www.domiedson.com

A musician and leader well beyond her years, bassist Domi Edson shows melodic sensibilities comparable to the best swing and bebop players around the world.  Her interplay with her trio, comprised of pianist Spencer Zweifel and drummer Bobby Wiens, on her latest release Stories from Solitude, displays a simpatico repartee where the players mingle freely as each participates in the conversation while keeping a swing-inspired continuity.  Made up of several original compositions penned by Edson alongside a few jazz standards, the recording is multi-faceted.

The harmonious consistency fashioned from Zweifel's trotting keys and Edson's percolating beats, with Wiens' drum palpitations seamed along Edson's original work "Domi’s New Blues," has a rich bebop luster.  The trickling keys scampering briskly across "In Waltzed Minnie" have a playful canter that imbues a jubilant mood, changing to a pensive atmosphere in Edson's original piece "Panoramic," projecting a tuneful stride in the meandering keys.

The bopping tempo of "You and the Night and the Music," written by Arthur Schwartz and arranged by Edson, is tweaked in spirited drum beats that produce a theatrical solo.  Edson's interpretation of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" is shaped by the gentle bowing of her bass strings, casting the track in a somber ether as the trundling strokes of the keys brighten the ambience.  The Latin-infused accents illuminating "Crocos" bring out a sophistication in the recording emblematic of songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim, which transition to a thoughtful soliloquy in "For Col Tom Blue," composed by Domi Edosn

The record’s title speaks about being alone with one's thoughts in a natural setting.  Intimating stories and experiences from life into song creates a deep connection between Edson and her audience.  In addition to her work as a performer, Edson is also deeply committed to jazz education. She teaches at the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts, has performed at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) Women in Jazz Day Evening Concert, and previously taught undergraduates at UNC.   At the age of 25, Domi Edson has shown herself to be a steady catalyst and a significant luminary in modern jazz.

Musicians:
Domi Edson - Bass
Spencer Zweifel - Piano
Bobby Wiens - Drums